BHB 

w. 


GOOD 

ENGINEERING 
LITERATURE 

What  to  Read  and  How  to  Write 

With  Suggestive  Information  on 

Allied  Topics 

By 

HARWOOD  FROST 

M.  Am.  Soc.  M.  E.,  M.  Soc.  Prom.  Eng.  Educ. 

Author,  "The  Art  of  Roadmaking" 
Formerly    Editor    of  "The     Engineering    Digest" 
and  Manager,  Engineering  News  Book  Department 


"Reading  maketh  a  full  man,  conference  a  ready  man, 
and  writing  an  exact  man" — Bacon 


Published  by  the  Author 

Distributing  Sales  Agents 

CHICAGO  BOOK  COMPANY 

226  So.  La  Salle  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


Cf    THF 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


GENERAL 


Copyright  1911  by 
HARWOOD  FROST 

Entered  at  Stationer's  Hall,  London,  E.  C.  1911 
All  Rights  Reserved 


Published  April,  1911 


PEEFACE 

Every  book  should  have  a  Preface.  It  opens 
up  the  subject  with  the  reader  much  as  the 
state  of  the  weather  opens  a  conversation  be- 
tween strangers.  In  the  present  case,  the  sub- 
ject— the  making,  selecting,  and  reading  of  en- 
gineering literature — is  one  on  which,  up  to 
this  time,  there  has  been  practically  nothing  in 
published  form,  excepting  a  few  reprints  of 
lectures  and  occasional  periodical  articles.  A 
treatment  of  this  important  subject  has  been 
long  needed,  and  I  offer  no  apologies  for  the 
present  attempt.  But  such  a  work  is  peculiarly 
open  to  criticism  and  in  anticipation  of  such, 
I  may  say  that  I  am  already  well  aware  of  its 
many  imperfections  and  faults,  both  of  omis- 
sion and  commission. 

The  material  itself  is  an  elaboration  of  that 
given  in  addresses  to  engineering  students  in 
the  early  part  of  1910,  and  its  presentation  in 
a  printed  book  is  the  outgrowth  of  a  request 
that  this  material  be  given  in  a  more  permanent 
and  useful  form  than  that  of  oral  discourse. 
When  the  writing  was  commenced  it  was  the 
intention  to  issue  two  or  three  pamphlets  only ; 
but  as  the  work  progressed,  the  fact  developed 
that  while  there  is  plenty  of  literature  for  the 
V. 


219046 


VI.  -  ENGINEEKING  LITERATURE 

would-be  writer  of  fiction  and  magazine  stories, 
there  is  nothing,  except  as  mentioned  above, 
for  the  engineer-writer,  and  the  more  exten- 
sive book  was  therefore  decided  upon.  No  ef- 
fort has  been  made  to  give  set  rules  for  the 
study  of  English,  Grammar,  Rhetoric,  or  any 
other  of  the  fundamentals  of  literature,  nor  to 
dictate  methods  as  to  how  a  thing  must  be  done 
to  be  correctly  done;  the  effort  has  been  rather 
to  outline  principles  and  to  point  out  their  ap- 
plication in  what  might  be  termed  "literary 
engineering. ' ' 

Every  engineer  is,  sooner  or  later,  called  upon 
in  the  course  of  his  professional  duties,  to  do 
some  form  of  literary  work,  when  he  finds  that 
the  ability  to  speak  and  write  clearly  and  forc- 
ibly, to  express  his  thoughts  and  understand- 
ings and  to  describe  his  works  so  that  others 
will  understand  them,  will  prove  one  of  the 
most  valuable  items  in  his  mental  equipment. 
This  fact  is,  however,  too  little  appreciated  by 
the  average  student,  or  by  the  engineer  during 
the  earlier  years  of  his  work  and  as  a  result, 
we  see  many  engineers  painfully  groping  their 
way  and  struggling  with  the  difficulties  of  com- 
position under  conditions  where  success  de- 
pends on  their  powers  of  persuasion  or  of  mak- 
ing themselves  clearly  understood. 

To  such  practicing  engineers,  as  well  as  to 
the  student  of  engineering,  it  is  hoped  that 


PEEFACE  VII. 

this  book  will  offer  a  helping  hand.     Its  pur- 
pose is  fourfold: 

1.  To  impress  upon  the  reader  the  value 
and  need  of  a  command  of  good  English  in  the 
practice  of  engineering,  and  to  outline  the  ap- 
plication of  the  fundamentals  of  literary  ex- 
pression to  his  own  special  line  of  work. 

2.  To  indicate  something  of  the  standards 
of  engineering  literature  and  of  the  kind  of 
material  that  is  most  valuable  to  the  engineer ; 
to  show  how  to  collect,  select,  and  arrange  this 
information  and  prepare  it  for  publication ;  and 
to  give  in  outline  such  information  regarding 
the  theory  and  practice  of  the  publishing  busi- 
ness as  may  assist  the  writer  in  the  preparation 
and  marketing  of  his  literary  works. 

3.  To  aid  the  engineer  in  the  selection  and 
reading  of  his  professional  literature  that  he 
may  use  his  time  and  money  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage. 

4.  To  collect  and  preserve  some  of  the  in- 
formation given  in  the  writings  and  addresses 
of   technical   men    on   this    subject,    which   is 
worthy  of  preservation,  but  which  is  unknown 
and  unattainable  to  the  average  student  or  en- 
gineer. 

In  the  use  of  these  writings  and  addresses, 
I  have  been  very  free  and  while  it  would  be 
almost  impossible  to  give  separate  credit  for 
each  quotation  or  adaptation,  in  cases  where 


VIII.  ENGINEEEING    LITERATURE 

much  material  has  been  used,  I  have  given  in- 
dividual credit,  but  besides  this,  special  credit 
should  be  given  to  "Engineering  News,"  from 
which  I  have  made  frequent  quotations.  I 
have  also  consulted  encyclopedias  and  a  few 
other  works  of  a  reliable  kind,  bearing 
on  the  general  subject,  and  have  used  ma- 
terial therefrom  as  occasion  demanded.  Thanks 
are  also  due  to  Prof.  J.  M.  Telleen,  of 
the  Case  School  of  Applied  Science,  for  his  ex- 
amination of  some  of  the  earlier  sections  of  the 
book  and  for  many  valuable  suggestions  in 
connection  therewith. 

In  conclusion,  while  I  have  derived  much 
pleasure  from  the  preparation  of  the  present 
book,  I  realize  its  defects.  It  is  my  desire  to 
improve  it  and  to  make  it  more  useful  by  the 
experience  and  suggestions  of  engineers  in 
practice  as  well  as  in  teaching.  No  one  man 
can  cover  the  entire  range  of  any  subject  in  his 
own  experience,  therefore  I  would  greatly  ap- 
preciate any  information  that  could  be  incor- 
porated in  the  work  and  add  to  its  usefulness 
to  the  engineer  and  the  student,  for  whom  it 
is  intended.  H.  F. 

Chicago^  111.,  April  15,  1911. 


CONTENTS 

Page 

INTRODUCTION.     THE  PURPOSE  OF  LITERA- 
TURE   1 

Chapter 

I.    LITERARY  EXPRESSION 5 

Need  to  the  Engineer  of  Correct  Literary 
Expression  .  .  .  What  Correct  Literary  Ex- 
pression Involves. 

II.  RHETORIC  and  GRAMMAR 17 

General  Definitions  and  Relations  .  .  .  Clas- 
sification .  .  .  Figures  of  Speech  .  .  .  Appli- 
cation of  Principles  to  Work  of  the  Engineer. 

III.  ORTHOGRAPHY  AND  PUNCTUATION  .    .  29 

IV.  WORDS  AND  PHRASES 36 

Basis  of  Engineering  Terminology  .  .  . 
Choice  of  Technical  Words  .  .  .  Use  of 
Common  Words 

V.    INSPIRATION  AND  MOTIVE  IN  LITER- 
.       ARY  WORK 57 

VI.    ESSENTIALS  TO   SUCCESS   IN   LITERA- 
TURE      60 

VII.    WHAT  TO  WRITE  ABOUT 63 

What  kind  of  Information  is  Most  Useful  to 
the  Engineer  .  .  .  Descriptive  Articles  .  .  . 
Engineering  Problems  .  .  .  Construction  De- 
tails ...  Methods  and  Costs  .  .  .  Special 
Subjects. 

IX 


X  CONTENTS 

Chapter                                                                          Page 
VIII.    COLLECTING  AND  ARRANGING  MATER- 
IAL  82 

Aids  to  Literary  Work. 

IX.    EXERCISING  THE   MEMORY 94 

X.  PREPARATION  OF  MANUSCRIPTS  FOR 

PUBLICATION 112 

General  Principles:  Writing  .  .  .  Cancel- 
lations .  .  .  Transpositions  .  .  Capitals  and 
Type  Variations  ....  Punctuation  .... 
Paragraphs  and  Sentences  .  .  .  Quotations 
.  .  .  Footnotes  .  .  Chapter  and  Section  Titles 
.  .  .  Illustrations  .  .  .  Abbreviations  .  .  . 
Notes  for  Guidance  of  Printer. 

The  Literary  Features  of  a  Book:  Title 
.  .  .  Preface  .  .  .  Text  .  .  .  Index. 

Specifications  for  Text-books. 

XI.    "FIELD"  AND  "POLICY"  OF  TECHNICAL 

JOURNALS 141 

Acceptance  and  Rejection  of  Articles  .   .   . 
The  Trade  "Write-up"  .   .   .  Correspondence 
.   .   .  Personals. 
Selection  of  Matter  for  Publication. 

XII.    THE    "WRITE-UP"   ARTICLE    ....     158 

XIII.     RIGHTS  OF  AN  AUTHOR  IN  HIS 

WORKS 164 

Literary  Property  .  .  .  Copyright  .  .  . 
Giving  Credit  for  Drafts  on  the  Literary 
Work  of  Others. 

XIV.    COPYRIGHT 178 

The  Copyright  Law:  Nature  and  Extent 
of  Copyright  .  .  .  What  May  be  Copyrighted 
.  .  .  Who  May  Obtain  Copyright  .  .  .  How 
to  Secure  Copyright  .  .  .  Deposit  of  Copies 
of  Work  .  .  .  Manufacturing  Provisions  .  .  . 


CONTENTS  XI 

Chapter  Page 

Affidavit  of  American  Manufacture  .  .  . 
Penalty  for  False  Affidavit  .  .  .  Printing  of 
Notice  .  .  .  Ad  Interim  Protection  .  .  .  Du- 
ration of  Copyright  .  .  .  Protection  Afforded 
and  Penalties  for  Infringement  ,  .  .  Assign- 
ment .  .  .  Registration  .  .  .  Copyright  Fees. 
Steps  Necessary  to  Secure  Copyright 
Registration. 

Application  Forms. 

XV.  RELATIONS    BETWEEN  AUTHOR  AND 

PUBLISHER 203 

Choosing    a    Publisher  .   .   .  The    Literary 
Agent  .  .   .  Submission   of    Manuscript  .   .   . 
Terms  of  Publication  .  .  .  Royalties    .    .    . 
Form  of  Agreement. 
XVI.    THE  LAW  OF  LIBEL 221 

XVII.  PREPARATION  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FOR  REPRODUCTION 228 

Wax-engraving  Process  .  .  .  Photo-litho- 
graphy and  Photo-engraving  .  .  .  Prepara- 
tion of  Drawings  .  .  .  Half-tone  process  .  .  . 
Preparation  of  Photographs. 

XVIII.  THE  MAKING  OF  A  BOOK 244 

The  Physical  Side  of  Books:  Papers  .  .  . 
Inks  .  .  .  Bindings. 

Outline  of  Work  of  the  Manufacturing 
Department. 

Dealing  Direct  with  the  Printer. 

Typography:  What  Types  are  Made  of  .  . 
Sizes  of  Types  .  .  .  Type  Measurement  .  .  . 
Estimation  of  Space  Occupied  by  Manuscript 
.  .  Type  Faces .  .  Electrotypes  .  .  Press-work. 

Proof-reading:  Errors  Most  Frequent  in 
Proofs  .  .  .  Marks  Used  in  Correcting  Proofs 
.  .  .  Making  up  the  Book, 

Rules  for  Make-up  of  Periodicals. 


XII  CONTENTS 

Chapter  Pago 

XIX.    INDEXING  AND  FILING 290 

The  Card  Index. 

Indexing  of  Technical  Information:  The 
Industrial  Library  Index  .  .  .  System  for 
Both  Field  and  Office  Use  ...  Classification 
System  for  Library  .  .  .  Library  of  Congress 
Index  Cards. 

Indexing  and  Filing  Trade  Publications: 
Classification  .  .  .  Filing  .  .  .  Variations  in 
Size  of  Catalogues. 

Indexing  Books  and  Periodicals:  Rules  to 
be  Observed  in  Making  Indexes  .  .  .  Making 
the  Index. 

Dewey  Decimal  System  of  Classification: 
Explanation  of  the  Dewey  System  .  .  .  Use 
and  Advantages  of  the  Decimal  Classification 
.  .  .  Variations  and  Modifications. 

XX.    LITERARY  CRITICISM 340 

Criticism  of  Books  by  Readers  .  .  .  The 
Book  Review. 

XXI.  THE  ENGINEER'S  LIBRARY     ....     359 

Extent  of  the  Engineer's  Library  .  .  . 
Selection  of  Books  and  Periodicals. 

Government  Publications  and  How  to 
Obtain  Them. 

Reading  and  Judgment  of  Engineering 
Literature:  Periodicals  .  .  .  How  to  Read 
and  Buy  Books  .  .  .  Judgment  of  Books. 

XXII.  LIST    OF    TECHNICAL    INDEXES    AP- 

PEARING SERIALLY 405 

INDEX  .  .    407 


INTRODUCTION 

THE  PURPOSE  OF  LITERATURE. 

A  certain  writer  has  said  that  "The  purpose 
of  literature  is  to  render  our  lives,  that  is, 
the  individuality  of  each  one  of  us,  broader 
and  deeper,  through  contact  with  the  thoughts 
of  great  personalities  in  all  departments  of 
study."  Certainly  a  man's  life  is  influenced  by 
the  literature  he  reads  very  much  as  his  char- 
acter is  by  the  company  he  keeps.  The  non- 
reading  man  is  usually  an  uncultured  and  un- 
educated man.  The  merely  professional,  or 
"one-book"  man  is  a  narrow  man;  worse  than 
that,  he  is  an  artificial  man,  a  creature  of 
technicalities  and  specialties,  removed  equally 
from  the  broad  truths  of  nature  and  from  the 
healthy  influences  of  human  contact.  In  so- 
ciety, the  most  accomplished  man  of  mere  pro- 
fessional skill  is  often  a  nullity,  whose  talents 
have  dominated  his  life  to  the  exclusion  of 
human  sympathies  and  interests.  The  odor  of 
the  "shop"  is  always  about  him;  he  is  like  a 
merchant  or  a  broker  who  can  talk  of  noth- 
ing but  leather  or  grain  or  stocks,  or  he  may 
be  a  book-worm  and  smell  mustily  of  books, 
as  an  inveterate  smoker  does  of  tobacco. 

The  young  man  who  has  entered  a  field  of 
professional  work  should  endeavor  to  keep  his 
mind  open  to  the  general  interests  of  humanity, 


2  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

and  instead  of  rushing  into  professional  studies 
exclusively,  should  rather  avoid  the  engross- 
ing influence  of  what  is  popularly  called 
"shop."  He  will  soon  enough  learn  to  know 
the  cramping  influence  of  purely  professional 
occupation  and  studies,  and  if  he  insists  on 
fixing  his  mind  on  these  to  the  entire  neglect 
of  general  culture,  he  should  be  told  at  once 
that  no  professional  training,  however  com- 
plete, can  teach  a  man  the  whole  of  his  pro- 
fession; that  the  most  exact  professional  drill 
will  fail  to  teach  him  that  most  interesting  and 
most  important  part  of  his  business — the  part, 
namely,  where  the  specialty  of  the  profession 
comes  directly  into  contact  with  the  generality 
of  human  notions  and  human  sympathies.  Of 
this  the  profession  of  the  law  furnishes  an  ex- 
cellent and  perhaps  the  best  example,  for  while 
there  is  no  art  more  technical,  more  artificial, 
and  more  removed  from  a  fellow-feeling  of 
humanity,  than  law  in  many  of  its  branches,  in 
others  it  marches  out  into  the  great  arena  of 
human  rights  and  liberties,  and  deals  with 
large  questions,  in  the  handling  of  which  it 
is  often  of  more  consequence  that  the  pleader 
should  be  a  complete  man  than  that  he  should 
be  a  legal  expert.  In  the  same  way,  medicine 
has  as  much  to  do  with  a  knowledge  of  human 
nature  as  with  the  virtues  of  skilfully  mixed 
drugs  and  the  revelations  of  a  technical  diag- 
nosis. So,  also,  in  the  practice  of  the  art,  as 


PURPOSE  OF  LITERATURE  3 

Tredgold  defined  it,  "of  directing  the  great 
sources  of  power  in  Nature  for  the  use  and 
convenience  of  man,"  the  engineer  is  brought 
into  contact  with  every  advance  in  civilization, 
comfort,  luxury,  and  safety  of  mankind.  The 
life  of  the  engineer  is  rendered  "broader  and 
deeper,"  through  contact  with  the  work  and 
thoughts  of  his  fellowman  as  reflected  in  the 
writings  of  men  prominent  in  the  various  de- 
partments of  study  and  of  his  own  profession. 
"Literature"  is  a  large  subject,  and  it  is 
not  my  intention,  in  the  present  small  work,  to 
delve  too  deeply  into  its  mysteries.  But  what 
is  "Literature"?  Mere  bookmaking  is  not  lit- 
erature. Bibliography,  fiction,  history,  are  only 
so  many  branches  of  literature;  books  and 
periodicals  are  only  two  forms  of  literature; 
we  speak  of  the  "Literature  of  Engineering," 
or  of  Civil  Engineering,  or  of  Cement  and 
Concrete,  meaning  the  entire  range  of  pub- 
lished information  on  these  general  or  special- 
ized subjects.  Thus,  "Literature"  may  be  said 
to  be  the  record,  in  more  or  less  permanent  and 
readable  form,  of  the  results  of  human  thought 
and  activity,  considered  collectively.  The  lit- 
erature of  his  profession  is  the  most  valuable 
instrument  at  the  command  of  the  engineer,  but 
in  the  present-day  tendency  towards  specializa- 
tion and  the  strong  individualizing  of  the  sep- 
arate departments  of  the  profession,  there  is 
always  danger  of  a  misuse  of  this  instrument. 


4  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

If  the  engineer  would  not  become  too  much 
a  creature  of  technicalities  and  specialties; 
if  he  would  not  build  around  himself  a  high 
wall  of  exclusiveness,  he  must  not,  in  his  de- 
votion to  any  one  branch  of  his  profession, 
become  careless  and  neglectful  of  the  progress 
that  is  being  made  in  the  many  other  branches, 
as  well  as  in  the  general  affairs  of  the  world. 
The  successful  engineers  of  today  are  most 
diligent  consumers  of  literature.  No  matter 
how  many  years  of  practical  experience  he  may 
have  behind  him,  or  to  what  degree  of  success 
he  may  have  attained  in  his  work,  the  success- 
ful man  never  seems  to  reach  that  point  where 
he  can  afford  to  do  without  the  aid  and  instruc- 
tion offered  him  through  the  medium  of  his 
books  and  periodicals.  He  realizes  the  need  of 
this  contact  with  the  work  and  thoughts  of 
his  fellow  men  and  his  brother  engineers;  he 
knows  that  his  success  does  not  depend  so 
much  upon  his  own  independent  thought  and 
work  as  upon  the  experience  of  others,  which 
is  recorded  for  his  benefit  in  the  literature  of 
his  profession.  The  importance  of  this  litera- 
ture to  everyone  connected  with  engineering 
work — practitioner,  contractor,  instructor,  or 
student — cannot  be  overestimated.  It  is  abso- 
lutely essential  to  his  success ;  it  keeps  him  out 
of  the  ruts,  and  is  not  only  broadening  and 
deepening,  but  a  constant  source  of  stimula- 
tion and  inspiration. 


LITERARY  EXPRESSION 

The  professional  engineer  is  naturally  looked 
upon  as  an  educated  man.  He  is  expected  to 
be  a  man  of  good  address,  and  conversant 
with  the  elements  of  grammar,  spelling, 
and  punctuation,  but  not  necessarily  om- 
niscient, or  a  master  of  the  whole  circle  of 
the  arts  and  sciences.  There  are  some  men, 
it  is  true,  of  recognized  technical  ability,  who 
cannot,  or  do  not,  use  ordinarily  good  gram- 
mar; who  use  the  language  of  an  uneducated 
laborer,  and  whose  penmanship,  spelling,  and 
punctuation  would  hardly  pass  an  elementary 
examination;  but  the  fact  that  a  few  men  of 
this  type,  uneducated,  ignorant,  or  merely  care- 
less, have  risen  to  such  positions  and  in  some 
cases  have  attained  fame  and  financial  suc- 
cess, does  not  minimize  the  importance  to  the 
engineer  of  a  command  and  use  of  correct  Eng- 
lish. There  is  often  displayed  a  tendency 
among  engineering  students  to  master  the 
science  of  engineering  while  neglecting  the 
humble  details  of  good  rhetorical  and  gram- 
matical usage,  but  while  there  may  occasionally 
arise  a  genius  whose  activities  are  guided  by  a 

5 


6  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

sort  of  divine  inspiration  rather  than  by  the 
teachings  of  experience,  the  majority  of  engi- 
neers are  ordinary  mortals  with  commonplace 
talents,  and  ordinary  methods  must  be  used  in 
their  training.  It  cannot  be  too  strongly  im- 
pressed upon  the  engineer,  and  the  young  engi- 
neer especially,  that  deficiency  in  respect  to  the 
above-mentioned  elements  of  education  casts 
suspicion  upon  the  entire  range  of  his  learning 
and  upon  the  value  of  his  professional  opinion. 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  average  engi- 
neering student  considers  the  study  of  English 
one  of  minor  importance,  which  should  have 
been  finished  in  his  public  school  days ;  that  he 
lacks  an  appreciation  of  the  purpose  of  his  more 
advanced  English  studies  and  the  necessity  in 
his  future  professional  work  of  correct  literary 
expression. 

NEED  TO  THE  ENGINEER  OF  CORRECT 
LITERARY   EXPRESSION 

Literary  expression,  by  which  I  mean  the 
communication  of  thought  by  means  of  writ- 
ten or  spoken  language,  constitutes  a  peculiar 
art.  There  are  some  more  highly  gifted  than 
others  with  a  facility  of  expression,  but  cor- 
rect literary  expression  is  not  among  the  arts 
that  come  by  nature,  and  perfection  cannot  be 
acquired  except  by  long  and  continual  prac- 
tice. When  learned,  good  English  is  just  as 
easily  used  as  bad  English,  and  its  use  places 


LITERARY   EXPRESSION  7 

one  on  a  high  stand  in  the  estimation  of  all 
educated  people,  and  certainly  does  not  lower 
one  in  the  estimation  of  the  uneducated. 

There  are  many  advantages  in  being  able  to 
write  and  speak  well.  One  of  the  tendencies 
of  class-room  study  is  to  make  the  student  ab- 
sorb a  mass  of  facts  by  rote^  soon  to  be  forgot- 
ten, rather  than  to  assimilate  the  principles 
for  further  use.  The  preparing  of  composi- 
tions, essays,  speeches,  and  debates  makes  him 
think  over  and  review  his  mental  stock-in- 
trade  from  time  to  time,  and  encourages  him 
to  add  to  this  stock  by  reading,  listening,  ask- 
ing questions,  and  thinking.  It  also  gives  him 
active  practice  in  putting  his  stock-in-trade  to 
some  use;  otherwise  the  mass  of  materials 
might  lie  uncultivated,  or  might,  at  any  rate, 
be  difficult  to  utilize  when  needed.  Further- 
more, the  preparing  of  these  literary  produc- 
tions trains  the  student  into  the  habit  of  go-  / 
ing  straight  to  the  point,  and  in  many  ways/ 
it  will  be  productive  of  a  saving  of  time  and 
exertion,  which  will  go  a  long  way  towards 
professional  success.  It  also  forces  the  student 
to  give  definite  shape  to  his  ideas,  which  in  turn 
cultivates  the  faculty  of  speaking  well  and 
readily  and  without  nervousness  when  un- 
expectedly called  upon.  For,  if  he  has  to  di- 
vide his  attention  between  the  collecting  and 
arranging  of  ideas  and  their  expression,  he 


8  ENGINEEEING  LITERATURE 

must  often   express  the   ideas   without   shape, 
illogically,  and  ungrammatically. 

To  the  engineer  this  command  of  correct 
language  is  essential.  The  practice  of  correct 
writing  is  a  necessity  from  the  time  he  pens  his 
first  application  for  a  job  to  the  end  of  his  pro- 
fessional career.  It  is  necessary,  not  merely  for 
the  clear  expression  of  his  thoughts  in  corres- 
pondence, but  for  use  in  the  many  other  forms 
of  composition  which  he  is  continually  called 
upon  to  write,  such  as  reports,  specifications, 
and  contracts :  technical  articles  and  descrip- 
tions of  his  works  for  periodicals  and  engineer- 
ing societies,  and  sometimes  the  more  elabor- 
ate productions,  such  as  books  and  trade  pub- 
lications. The  practice  of  correct  speech  is 
necessary  in  ordinary  conversation,  in  business 
interviews,  in  presenting  views  before  commit- 
tees, in  speaking  to  public  bodies,  and  in  argu- 
ing with  boards  of  directors.  Then  also,  the 
young  engineer  who  goes  out  from  one  of  our 
technical  universities  equipped  with  a  wide 
knowledge  of  some  particular  branch  of  engi- 
neering may  later  be  called  upon,  as  an  expert, 
to  submit  opinions  and  advice  to  public  gather- 
ings and  council-boards,  both  orally  and  in 
writing,  where  his  ability  to  give  clear  and  con- 
cise explanations  of  some  engineering  subject 
will  be  put  to  the  most  merciless  test.  Power 
lies  in  clearness  and  readiness  in  giving  ex- 
pression to  thoughts,  and  unless  the  engineer 


LITERARY    EXPRESSION  9 

is  reasonably  proficient  in  both  writing  and 
speaking,  he  will  find  himself  in  a  difficulty  in 
which  no  friend  or  book  of  rules  can  help  him. 
Some  features  regarding  "The  Value  of  Eng- 
lish to  the  Technical  Man"  were  clearly 
brought  out  in  an  address  before  the  Techno- 
logical Society  of  Kansas  City,  by  John  Lyle 
Harrington*,  an  abstract  of  which  may  well  be 
quoted  in  this  connection : 

*  *  *  The  great  majority  of  technical 
men  occupy  salaried  positions  in  the  organiza- 
tions of  railways,  governments,  constructing 
companies,  and  manufacturing  corporations. 
These  positions  are  obtained  by  means  of  ac- 
quaintances made  in  a  social  way,  by  interview, 
by  correspondence,  or  on  account  of  an  earned 
reputation.  *  *  *  One  who  is  ignorant  of 
the  language  finds  social  progress  substantially 
impossible.  This  may  seem  a  trivial  matter, 
but  it  is  not.  Matters  of  very  large  importance 
are  very  often  settled  by  favor,  and  favor  fre- 
quently follows  social  position.  Other  things 
being  equal,  almost  anyone  will  show  his  friend 
the  preference  in  business  or  professional  mat- 
ters. Social  relations  make  largely  for  suc- 
cess or  failure  in  the  business  or  professional 
world.  Many  have  received  the  opportunity 
which  led  to  eminence  through  the  recommen- 
dation of  a  casual  acquaintance  who  was  favor- 
ably impressed. 

In  business  correspondence  the  value  of 
good  usage  is  still  more  manifest  than  in  con- 
versation. The  art  of  letter  writing,  like  a 

"Consulting  Engineer,  Kansas  City. 


10  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

knowledge  of  grammar,  is  commonly  consid- 
ered to  be  within  the  range  of  everyone 's  learn- 
ing and  skill;  but  anyone  who  has  had  large 
experience  in  business  correspondence  knows 
that  few  men  write  good  letters.  Many  men 
owe  the  opportunity  for  advancement  to  their 
ability  to  write  a  good  letter. 

The  detrimental  results  of  bad  English  in 
conversation  or  in  correspondence  are  by  no 
means  so  certain  as  in  the  more  formal  tech- 
nical papers.  In  the  preparation  of  articles 
for  the  technical  press,  and  papers  for  the 
learned  societies,  there  is  time  to  study  form 
and  style  and  to  eliminate  errors  due  to  haste ; 
hence,  when  such  matters  are  ill  written,  it  is 
not  unfairly  argued  that  the  writer  is  ignorant 
of  the  correct  use  of  the  language.  The  idea 
that  a  technical  paper  is  dry  at  best,  and  that 
the  English  employed  in  it  is  of  small  conse- 
quence, has  long  been  proved  incorrect.  There 
is  so  much  nowadays  that  is  well  written  that 
no  busy  professional  man  is  willing  to  spare 
the  extra  time  and  effort  necessary  to  read  and 
digest  an  ill-written  paper. 

A  merchant  may  advertise  his  wares,  a 
manufacturer  his  product,  but  reasonable  mod- 
esty and  his  code  of  ethics  prevent  a  profes- 
sional man  from  advertising  his  skill.  If  he 
does  not  become  known  by  his  work  or  his 
writings,  he  remains  in  comparative  obscurity. 
His  ability  is  clearly  exposed  in  his  writings, 
in  which  he  gives  to  the  profession  his  best 
thought;  and  if  he  cannot  write  easily  and 
well  he  will  probably  not  wrrite  at  all,  for  the 
censorship  of  the  learned  societies  is  now  se- 
vere and  is  rapidly  growing  more  so.  Every 
normal,  healthy-minded  technical  man  desires 


LITEKAEY   EXPRESSION  11 

to  leave  a  permanent  record  of  the  results  of 
his  best  thought  and  work  to  aid  his  co-work- 
ers and  those  that  come  after  him.  An  ably 
written  description  of  work  performed,  dis- 
coveries made,  or  methods  developed  accom- 
plishes more  for  the  advancement  of  science 
than  many  well  designed  and  well  executed 
constructions.  The  latter  benefit  those  who  see 
them;  the  former  may  help  all  who  can  read. 

Provoking  and  expensive  errors  often  arise 
from  the  misunderstanding  of  badly  expressed 
orders,  rules,  and  regulations.  In  large  cor- 
porations, especially  in  railway,  contracting, 
and  engineering  companies  where  employees 
are  distributed  over  a  wide  area,  it  is  impos- 
sible for  an  officer  to  give  individual  instruc- 
tions, or  to  see  personally  that  they  are  carried 
out;  hence,  general  instructions  must  be  so 
clear  that  they  cannot  be  misunderstood  or 
evaded.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  the 
consequences  of  a  mistake  in  train  orders,  in 
instructions  regarding  breaking  track  for  re- 
pairs or  renewals,  or  for  making  temporary 
constructions  to  span  washouts,  may  result  in 
expensive  and  fatal  accidents.  And  even  minor 
errors,  oft  repeated,  may  prove  very  costly. 

But  the  preparation  of  reports,  specifica- 
tions, and  contracts  is  the  most  particular  and 
momentous  task  the  technical  man  has  to  per- 
form. It  is  not  enough  to  be  careful  in  a 
general  way.  Every  word,  every  phrase,  every 
sentence,  has  a  direct  and  vital  bearing  on  the 
work  governed  by  the  documents.  I  have 
known  the  presence  in  the  contract  of  a  single 
word  of  equivocal  meaning  to  cost  one  of  the 
parties  many  thousands  of  dollars,  though 


12  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

when  the  contract  was  drawn  there  was  no 
question  regarding  the  intent  of  the  parties  to 
it. 

Notwithstanding  the  vital  importance  of 
clear,  concise,  and  full  expression  in  such  docu- 
ments, it  is  not  uncommon  to  find  specifications 
and  contracts  so  bad  in  their  construction  that 
they  fail  utterly  in  their  purpose  *  *  * 
as  a  large  number  of  engineers  and  architects 
compose  their  specifications  by  copying  and 
combining  sentences  and  paragraphs  from 
various  sources,  instead  of  by  writing  them, 
from  fundamental  knowledge  of  the  construc- 
tion desired.  In  such  instances  the  client  is 
protected  infinitely  more  by  the  honesty, 
knowledge  and  skill  of  the  contractor  than  by 
those  of  the  architect. 

Very  few  railway  specifications  for  com- 
plicated structures  are  so  well  written  that  a 
contractor  cannot  comply  with  them  to  the 
letter,  yet  give  the  company  construction  far 
inferior  to  what  the  writer  of  the  specifications 
intended,  thereby  gaining  for  himself  material 
advantage. 

The  lawyers  and  the  courts  are  kept  busy 
rectifying  the  blunders  of  other  professional 
men  who  do  ill  what  they  are  paid  to  do  well. 
I  know  of  one  contractor  who  has  grown  gray 
in  the  business  of  constructing  buildings,  who 
has  never  completed  a  contract  without  a  law 
suit,  and  who  has  never  lost  a  law  suit.  This 
speaks  ill  for  the  work  of  the  architects  under 
whom  he  worked,  yet  they  are  probably  no 
worse  than  their  fellows.  If  it  were  not  good 
policy  to  be  reasonably  honest,  many  another 
contractor  might  easily  approach  his  record. 


LITEKARY    EXPRESSION  13 

^Literary  expression  should,  therefore,  be  con- 
sidered as  one  of  the  most  practical  problems 
with  which  the  engineer  has  to  deal.  It  can 
be  cultivated  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection  by 
a  judicious  application  of  the  principles  gov- 
erning the  elements  of  correct  English  com- 
position, as  given  in  any  good  text-book  of 
rhetoric  and  exemplified  in  the  standard  liter- 
ature of  the  language. 

WHAT   CORRECT   LITERARY  EXPRESSION 
INVOLVES. 

Correct  literary  expression  involves  the 
study  of  many  elements :  selection  and  ar- 
rangement of  ideas  in  accordance  with  the 
principles  of  unity,  coherence,  and  emphasis; 
grammar,  spelling,  penmanship,  and  punctua- 
tion; words,  sentences,  paragraphs,  and  chap- 
ters; clearness,  simplicity,  variety,  and  inter- 
est. Much  depends  on  the  means  of  expres- 
sion, whether  written  or  spoken;  whether  it 
is  a  letter,  a  detailed  descriptive  article,  a  the- 
oretical article,  a  summary,  or  a  book ;  a  speech, 
a  lecture,  a  debate,  or  ordinary  conversation. 
The  class  of  readers  or  hearers  to  whom  the 
composition  is  addressed  must  be  considered, 
also  its  purpose,  and  whether  it  will  be  read 
from  written  manuscript  or  from  typewriting 
or  from  print,  and  even  the  style  of  writing, 
typewriting,  or  printing,  needs  careful  con- 
sideration. It  is  manifestly  impossible  to  give 


14  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

a  thorough,  treatment  of  these  many  and  vari- 
ous elements  in  the  limited  space  of  this  small 
book;  most  of  them  are  matters  of  rhetoric 
and  are  taught  in  the  schools  and  the  college 
class-rooms.  The  present  purpose  is  rather  to 
point  out  the  necessity  of  their  individual  un- 
derstanding by  the  student  and  the  engineer, 
and  their  application  to  the  literary  work  that 
every  technical  man  must  do. 

Listen  to  a  first-class  orator  making  an  after- 
dinner  speech  which  draws  forth  round  after 
round  of  enthusiastic  applause,  and  note  his 
graceful  opening,  how  he  commands  your  at- 
tention, his  easy  style,  his  timely  and  forceful 
gestures,  his  clear  emphasis,  and  his  climax, 
when  he  takes  his  seat  amid  the  ringing  cheers 
of  the  company.  It  appears  simple,  but  when 
you  try  to  do  it,  you  do  something  or  leave 
something  undone  that  reacts  upon  the  entire 
speech,  and  you  fail  to  arouse  the  enthusiasm 
of  your  audience,  although  your  subject  matter 
may  be  as  interesting  and  as  valuable  as  that 
of  the  previous  speaker.  You  may  have  the 
ideas  but  lack  the  ability  to  tell  others  just 
what  you  mean ;  you  may  have  force  in  gesture, 
but  lack  the  ability  to  emphasize  properly — 
by  a  pause,  a  comparison,  or  an  appropriate 
story. 

The  reason  why  many  people  fail  in  writing 
and  speaking  is  not  so  much  from  the  lack 
of  ideas,  of  the  use  of  bad  English,  as  it  is 


LITERARY  EXPRESSION  15 

that  they  try  to  do  the  whole  thing  at  once 
without  having  mastered  each  single  element. 
A  gesture,  like  the  movement  of  a  baseball 
pitcher,  or  any  other  motion,  consists  of  several 
parts,  and  each  part  must  be  mastered  before 
the  whole  movement  can  be  made  perfectly;  a 
good  billiard  stroke  appears  simple  and  grace- 
ful only  because  the  expert  has  mastered  the 
elements  of  that  stroke — the  holding  of  the 
cue,  the  necessary  force,  the  angles  of  the 
table,  the  "English";  an  instructor  in  machine 
design  does  not  ask  his  students  to  design  a 
steam  engine  until  they  have  mastered  the 
various  parts  of  which  the  engine  is  made  up. 
The  easy  and  forceful  speaker  has,  by  study 
and  practice,  acquired  an  art  that  conceals 
an  art ;  he  has  acquired  the  art  of  reasoning  I 
while  on  his  feet;  he  has  considered  the  aims/ 
of  his  speech  in  connection  with  the  character 
and  mood  of  his  hearers ;  he  has  carefully  col- 
lated and  arranged  his  ideas;  he  has  mastered 
the  elements  of  style,  gesture,  and  emphasis 
and  applied  them  to  this  particular  speech; 
he  has  studied  his  beginning  and  ending  and 
his  pauses ;  and  during  his  apparently  informal 
talk  he  is  exerting  his  powers  of  attention, 
concentration,  and  observation.  The  Romans 
had  a  motto,  "Divide  et  impera,"  "Isolate  and 
conquer,"  which,  applied  to  the  present  case, 
may  be  rendered,  "Isolate  what  you  have  to 
master  and  master  it  part  by  part,"  to  which 


16  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

must  be  added  the  necessity  of  retaining  pos- 
session of  what  has  already  been  mastered  be- 
fore advancing  to  new  things — that  is  the  basis 
of  all  thorough  learning.  In  "Literary  Engi- 
neering" this  principle  applies  equally  to  read- 
ing, writing,  and  speaking,  and  the  engineer 
who  knows  how  to  read,  write,  and  speak  well 
has  a  possession  not  only  of  mere  intellectual 
and  social  advantage,  but  also  of  dollars  and 
cents  value,  in  whatever  branch  of  the  profes- 
sion his  work  lies. 


II 

RHETORIC  AND  GRAMMAR 

Rhetoric  is  the  art  of  composition,  written  I 
or   spoken ;   it   aims   at   expounding   the   prin- 
ciples  that  should  govern   all  prose   composi- 
tions or  speech  that  is  designed  to  influence 
the  judgment  or  feelings  of  a  reader  or  hearer, 
and  therefore  treats  of  everything  that  relates 
to   grace   or   force   of   style — accuracy   of   ex- 
pression, structure  of  periods,  and  figures  of 
speech.    VCrrammar  is  the  science  which  treats   / 
of  the  principles  of  language  and  teaches  the  / 
correct   use    of   words    for   the    expression    of 
thought ;  it  teaches  us  to  speak,  read,  and  write 
with  correctness,  according  to  the  established 
usage,   as  deduced  from  language   already  in 
existence.  "; 

(^Rhetoric  has  been  given  many  and  various 
definitions  by  writers,  both  ancient  and  modern 
— Aristotle  called  it  ''The  art  of  persuasion"; 
Whatley,  "The  art  of  conviction";  Campbell, 
"The  art  of  discourse" — but  all  these  writers 
agree  on  recognizing  it  as  an  art  rather  than 
as  a  science.  An  art  implies  underlying  prin- 
ciples based  on  a  science,  and  there  has  been, 
therefore,  much  question  as  to  the  science  or 
17 


18  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

sciences  upon  which  rhetoric  is  founded.  Some 
claim  the  basis  as  logic,  others  as  esthetics, 
and  others  as  ethics,  but  if  rhetoric  is  founded 
upon  any  single  science,  it  is  undoubtedly  logic, 
through  the  medium  of  grammar. 

Grammar  investigates  the  relations  between 
words  and  ideas,  examines  structure  of  speech 
in  general,  and  treats  of  the  essentials  of  the 
language.  It  receives  the  materials  of  thought 
formed  into  general  notions,  or  concepts,  judg- 
ments, and  reasonings;  expresses  them  with 
due  regard  to  purity,  propriety,  concord,  and 
precision,  and  turns  them  over  to  rhetoric  to 
be  woven  into  discourse  with  clearness,  energy, 
elegance,  and  special  adaptation  to  the  ends 
that  the  writer  or  speaker  has  in  view.  Gram- 
mar deals  with  the  words  and  the  sentence 
only;  rhetoric,  with  the  words,  sentence,  para- 
graph— the  entire  composition  or  discourse. 
Grammar  teaches  rules,  and  regards  correct 
expression  as  an  end  in  itself;  rhetoric  teaches 
principles,  and  regards  expression  as  merely 
a  means  to  an  end.  Grammar  makes  a  dis- 
tinction between  the  right  and  the  wrong; 
rhetoric  between  the  good  and  the  better. 

In  both  writing  and  speaking,  single  words 
would  suffice  to  express  detached,  individual 
ideas — a  book  could  be  indicated  by  the  single 
word  "book" — but  thought  is  made  up  of  re- 
lated ideas,  necessitating  the  combination  of 
words  into  sentences,  sentences  into  para- 


RHETORIC    AND    GRAMMAR  19 

graphs,  paragraphs  into  compositions.  The 
selection  of  words  and  their  arrangement  into 
correct  sentences  and  paragraphs,  according  to 
certain  rules,  is  the  province  of  grammar,  but 
however  correct  the  words  and  their  arrange- 
ment may  be;  they  may  still  fail  to  express  the 
thought  and  to  attain  the  special  end  in  view. 
The  words  must  be  united  into  sentences  and 
the  sentences  into  paragraphs  and  composi- 
tions, effectively — this  is  the  province  of  rhet- 
oric. "Effective  expression"  and  the  meaning 
commonly  attributed  to  the  word  "rhetoric" 
are  not,  however,  necessarily  synonymous.  A 
statement  such  as  "Even  his  rhetoric  failed  to 
convince  his  hearers,"  is  not  uncommon,  and 
implies  a  wrong  meaning.  It  implies  that  the 
speaker  was  bombastic  or  tricky,  and  possessed 
the  power  of  manipulating  his  words  to  de- 
ceive his  hearers,  which  is  the  very  reverse  of 
the  true  teachings  of  rhetoric — to  express  the 
meaning  clearly  and  exactly. 

Classification  of  Rhetoric.  As  just  men- 
tioned, rhetoric  is  an  art,  based  on  a  science, 
but  instead  of  regarding  it  as  founded  on  any 
single  science,  most  writers  prefer  to  recognize 
three  departments  of  rhetoric,  corresponding  to 
the  three  sciences  mentioned  above,  and  also  to 
the  three  divisions  which  are  ordinarily  made 
of  the  human  faculties,  the  intellect,  the  sensi- 
bilities, and  the  will.  These  departments  are : 


20  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

II.  Inventive  Rhetoric,  founded  on  Logic, 
which  treats  of  discourse,  and  helps  us 
attain  exact  knowledge. 

2.  Esthetic  Rhetoric,  founded  on  Esthetics, 

which  treats  of  the  "form"  of  dis- 
course, and  helps  us  attain  pleasure 
from  conversation,  reading,  and  writ- 
ing. 

3.  Ethical    Rhetoric,    founded    on    Ethics, 

which  treats  of  the  "purposes"  of  dis- 
course, and  helps  us  attain  the  ends 
desired. 

The  application  of  these  principles  and  this 
classification  of  rhetoric  to  the  purposes  of  the 
present  work  may  be.  outlined  as  follows : 

1.  Inventive  Rhetoric: 

a.  Choice  of  subject. 

b.  Accumulation  and   selection  of  mate- 

rial. 

c.  Arrangement   and   disposition   of   ma- 

terial. 

2.  Esthetic  Rhetoric : 

Has  reference  to  style,  and  the  art  of 
expressing  clearly,  energetically,  and 
gracefully,  the  products  of  Inventive 
Rhetoric  in  adaptation  to  the  ends  of  Ethi- 
cal Rhetoric.  The  elements  of  Style:  Na- 
turalness, Adaptation,  Clearness,  Energy, 
etc.,  are  discussed  in  any  treatise  on 
rhetoric. 

3.  Ethical  Rhetoric : 

Has  reference  to  purpose  of  discourse — 

a.  Instruction — to  develop  in  the  mind  a 

new  knowledge. 

b.  Conviction — to  lead  the  mind  to  adopt 

a  certain  opinion. 


RHETORIC    AND    GRAMMAR  21 

c.  Excitation — to  move  the  feelings  and 

arouse  interest. 

d.  Persuasion — to   determine  the  will  to 

action. 

It  will  require  but  slight  consideration  on 
the  part  of  the  reader  to  realize  the  practical 
application  of  this  analysis  to  the  work  of  an 
engineer  or  a  salesman,  and  thereby  to  convince 
him  of  the  necessity  of  an  understanding  of 
the  principles  of  rhetoric  and  their  value  in 
his  work.  The  salesman  goes  to  a  manufac- 
turer, for  instance,  with  the  aim  of  interesting 
him  in  a  certain  machine,  to  the  ultimate  end 
of  making  a  sale.  He  has  accumulated,  se- 
lected, and  arranged  his  facts  for  discussion 
and  argument ;  he  presents  these  facts  as  clear- 
ly and  as  energetically  as  possible,  and  in  the 
best  style  at  his  command;  the  order  of  his 
discourse  is  (a)  instruction — to  explain  his 
device,  (b)  conviction — to  make  his  prospec- 
tive customer  agree  to  certain  general  conclu- 
sions, (c)  excitation — to  arouse  an  interest  in 
his  device  and  a  desire  for  it  to  the  end  of  (d) 
inducing  him  to  place  the  desired  order — per- 
suasion. 

Similarly,  the  man  in  almost  any  position  in 
the  engineering  world  can  apply  this  analysis 
of  rhetoric  to  his  own  special  case,  and  will 
see  from  such  an  application,  the  dollars-and- 
cents  value  of  a  knowledge  of  rhetoric  and 
the  necessity  for  its  careful  study. 


22  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

Again,  rhetoric  may  be  classed  as  (1)  Con- 
structive, and  (2)  Critical.  Critical  Rhetoric 
embraces  the  study  of  rhetorical  principles 
and  of  literary  models  and  finds  its  most  com- 
mon example  in  the  modern  book  review.  Con- 
structive Rhetoric  consists  in  the  practical  ap- 
plication of  these  principles  and  the  imitation 
of  literary  models.  The  principles  of  rhetoric 
are  not  the  arbitrary  enactments  of  any  man 
or  body  of  men,  but  simple  deductions  from 
the  experience  and  observations  of  generations 
of  writers  and  speakers,  and  anyone  who  de- 
sires to  write  or  .speak  well,  either  in  the  rou- 
tine of  work,  or  otherwise,  should  study  and 
endeavor  to  apply  these  principles. 

There  are  three  forms  of  discourse  ordinarily 
recognized  by  rhetoric : 

1.  Ordinary     representative     discourse,     in 
which  the  matter  is  presented  for  its  own 
sake,  without  special  purpose,  or  regard  to 
form,   and   in   which   clearness,   accuracy, 
and  completeness  are  the  prime  essentials. 
Such  discourse  usually  consists  of: 

a.  Descriptions  of  things  and  events, 

b.  Narration  of  facts  and  fiction. 

c.  Exposition  of  truths  and  things  (ab- 

stract). 

2.  Poetry,  in  which  the  matter  and  the  pur- 
pose are  subordinate  to  the  form. 

3.  Oratory,  which  proposes  an  end  to  be 
attained,   to   which  the  matter   and  form 
of  discourse  are  merely  auxiliary. 


RHETORIC  AND  GRAMMAR  23 

The  ancient  writers  classified  Oratory  as  (a) 
Demonstrative,  (b)  Judicial,  and  (c)  Delibera- 
tive, and  some  of  the  British  writers  class  it  as : 

a.  The  eloquence  of  popular  assemblies. 

b.  The  eloquence  of  the  bar. 

c.  The  eloquence  of  the  pulpit, 

but  it  is  generally  recognized  that  if  a  classifi- 
cation is  attempted  at  all,  it  should  be  on  a 
basis  of  purpose  rather  than  of  the  occasion  of 
its  exercise.  An  orator,  or  a  speaker  before 
a  public  gathering  or  a  committee,  or  a  sales- 
man, generally  seeks  to  bring  something  to 
pass ;  he  does  not  appeal  to  the  intellect  or  the 
feelings  alone,  but  also  to  the  will.  He  must 
sway  the  whole  man,  or  he  will  fail  in  the  ob- 
ject he  has  in  view.  It  is  especially  necessary 
for  him  to  study  adaptation,  and  his  discourse, 
while  not  deficient  in  clearness  and  not  offen- 
sive to  the  tastes  of  his  hearers,  must  excel  in 
energy  and  emphasis.  It  will  be  seen,  then, 
that  for  a  man  who  uses  speech  and  writing 
in  his  work,  either  as  a  salesman  or  in  deal- 
ing with  bodies  of  men,  the  chief  elements  to 
be  mastered  are:  the  discovery  of  proper 
ideas  (see  page  63),  their  selection  and  ar- 
rangement (see  page  82),  and  the  style  in 
which  they  are  expressed,  which  is  the  field  of 
rhetoric,  to  which  should  also  be  added,  the 
cultivation  of  a  good  memory  (see  page  94). 

Style,  as  stated,  consists  of  various  elements, 
but  can  always  be  promoted  by  the  use  of 


24  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

Figurative  Language,  or  language  which  devi- 
ates from  the  plain  and  ordinary  method  of 
describing  an  object  or  of  stating  a  fact.  This 
tends  to  promote  clearness  by  associating  the 
objects  or  facts  under  discussion  with  more 
familiar  objects  or  events;  energy,  by  associ- 
ating the  objects  or  facts  with  more  exciting 
objects  or  facts;  elegance,  by  associating  the 
objects  or  facts  with  more  pleasing  objects 
or  facts.  "Figurative  Language"  may  be  di- 
vided into : 

Figures  of  Speech,  which  consist  of  a  mere 
modification  in  the  form  of  expression,  and 

Figures  of  Thought,  which  involve  an  essen- 
tial modification  of  the  conception, 

and  these  figures  depend  upon : 
The  Principle  of  Similarity, 
The  Principle  of  Dissimilarity, 
The  Principle  of  Association. 

Among  the  more  familiar  Figures  of  Speech 
used  for  emphasis,  are: 

1.  Alliteration — the    repetition    of    similar 
sounds    at    the    beginning    of    successive 
words : 

"Apt  alliteration's  artful  aid." 

2.  Paronomasia — the  use   of  words  in  the 
same  connection  which  are  similar  in  sound 
but  dissimilar  in  meaning: 

"Not    on   thy   sole,   but   on   thy   soul, 
harsh  Jew." — Shakespeare. 

3.  Meiosis  (or  Litotes) — the  representation 
of  an  object  as  less  than  it  really  is : 


EHETOEIC    AND    GRAMMAR  25 

"The  engineer  is  a  member  of  no  mean 
profession. ' ' 

4.  Pleonasm — the  use  of  more  words  to  ex- 
press one's  meaning  than  are  strictly  nec- 
essary— an  over- fullness  of  words  in  a  com- 
position— which  should  be  sharply  discrim- 
inated from  Tautology,  or  the  meaningless 
reiteration  of  a  thought. 

5.  Hyperbole — the  representation  of  an  ob- 
ject as  larger  than  it  really  is,  or  statement 
of  a  fact  more  strongly  than  is  consistent 
with  its  literal  truth: 

"He  ran  like  the  wind."     "An  ele- 
phant on  his  hands." 

6.  Climax — the  gradual  rising,  by  more  and 
more  emphatic  statements,  to  the  fullest 
and    most    expressive    utterance    of    our 
thought : 

"I  came,  I  saw,  I  conquered." — Caesar. 

Under  this  head  also,  there  are  several  fig- 
ures which  are  seldom  referred  to  and  which 
it  would  not  serve  any  good  purpose  to  dis- 
criminate between  or  to  define  in  a  book  of 
this  nature. 

Under  "Figures  of  Thought"  are,  first,  those 
founded  on  the  principle  of  Similarity: 

1.  Simile,  which  is  an  expressed  comparison 
usually  introduced  by  "like"  or  "as." 

"Books,  like  proverbs,  receive  their  chief 
value  from  the  stamp  and  esteem  of  ages 
through  which  they  have  passed." — Temple. 

2.  Metaphor,  which  is  an  implied  compari- 
son,     "Books,    the    children    of    the    brain." 


26  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

Similes  are  more  conducive  to  clearness, 
metaphors  to  energy.  Either  may  be  made 
conducive  to  elegance.  The  metaphor  may  be 
tested  by  reducing  it  to  an  equation,  thus, 
"The  ship  plows  through  the  sea5* — the  ship 
is  to  the  sea  as  the  plow  is  to  the  land.  Any 
metaphor  which  will  not  submit  to  this  test  is 
radically  defective,  introducing  more  than  four 
terms  or  suggesting  an  unreal  similarity.  The 
mixing  of  metaphors  is  one  of  the  commonest 
faults  of  the  bombastic  speaker.  Any  metaphor 
can  be  converted  into  a  simile,  as  for  instance, 
the  abpve  example  may  be  changed  to  read: 
" Books  are  like  children." 

3.  The  Allegory,  which  is  an  extended  meta- 
phor, and  of  which  Bunyan's  li Pilgrim's  Prog- 
ress" is  probably  the  best  example. 

4.  The  Fable,  which  is  essentially  similar  to 
the  allegory,  but  briefer,  and  characterized  by 
the  free  endowment  of  animals,  and  even  of 
inanimate  objects,  with  the  attributes  of  rea- 
son and  speech.    Of  this,  the  Fables  of  Aesop 
form  a  good  example. 

5.  The  Parable,  which  is  a  religious  alle- 
gory. 

6.  Personification,  which  regards  things  in- 
animate as  if  they  had  life: 

"The    pyramids,    doting   with    age,    have 
forgotten  the  names  of  their  founders. ' ' 
The  danger  in  the  use  of  personification  is 

that  mere   sex,   and  not  qualities  of  life,   be 

given  to  the  object. 


RHETORIC    AND    GRAMMAR  27 

Under  this  head,  also,  are  other  figures, 
which  it  is  not  in  the  province  of  this  book  to 
discuss  or  define. 

Under  "  Figures  of  Thought"  that  are 
founded  on  Dissimilarity,  are:  Contrast,  An- 
tithesis, and  Irony.  Founded  on  the  principle 
of  Association  is  Metonomy,  the  transference 
of  names,  such  as : 

The  cause  for  the  effect. 

The  container  for  the  thing  contained 

The  sign  for  the  thing  signified 

The  instrument  for  the  agent 

The  author  for  his  works 

Under  the  combined  heads  of  Similarity  and 
Dissimilarity  is : 

Synecdoche,  which  includes  objects  that  are 
similar  in  kind,  but  dissimilar  in  extent  or  de- 
gree. By^Svnecdoche.  we  put  a  part  for  the 
whole,  as  "sail"  for  "ship,"  or  a  "blade"  for 
a  "sword."  More  specifically  it  consists  of  the 
substitution  of: 

The  concrete  for  the  abstract 

The  species  for  the  genus 

The  individual  for  the  species 

The  material  for  the  thing  made 

Its  use  is  highly  conducive  to  energy.  It 
falls  within  the  province  of  rhetoric  to  discrim- 
inate accurately  between  these  figures  of  speech 
and  to  give  principles  which  shall  facilitate 
their  effective  use. 

In  regard  to  the  use  of  grammar  in  ordinary 
technical  statements,  the  following  are  a  few  of 


28  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

a  number  of  examples  cited  by  Prof.  T.  J.  John- 
ston in  a  paper  before  the  Society  for  the  Pro- 
motion of  Engineering  Education,  as  having 
actually  come  under  his  observation  within  a 
very  short  period: 

"Generator  dissembled." 

"More  customers,  cheaper  the  cost  of  production." 

"Formerly  the  slag  of  steel  works  was  considered 
purely  a  dead  waste,  but  some  few  years  ago  its  valu- 
able fertilizing  value  was  discovered,  and  now  this 
formerly  valueless  waste  is  one  of  the  world's  most 
valuable  fertilizers." 

"A  body  like  you  propose." 

"This  operation  is  to  be  operated  at  every  station." 

"In  a  shaft  eight  thousand  feet  deep,  the  cost  of 
cooling  the  temperature  would  be  considerable." 

"There  is  no  reversing  plugs." 

"For  which  the  unenviable  distinction  of  being  the 
worst  in  the  world  is  often  claimed  for  it." 

"To  this  was  added  two    .     .    .    generators." 

"Gas-engine  would  develop  along  the  same  lines  the 
steam-engine  had  done." 

"The  correctness  of  my  conclusions  have  been  am- 
ply demonstrated." 

"An  almost  infinitesimal  amount." 

"The  rings     .     .     .    are  circular  in  shape." 

"The  car  is  well  lit" 

"The  cost  of  superimposing  a  floor  on  the  present 
system  would  cost  as  much  as  the  original  cost  of 
building  the  present  system." 

"The  company  find  it  impossible  to  buy  only  at  re- 
tail prices." 

"Which  renders  great  economy  and  rapid  construc- 
tion." 

"A  fewer  number  will  perform  a  given  amount  of 
work  four  times  as  long  as  any  other  cell  of  equal 
size." 


Ill 


ORTHOGKAPHY  AND  PUNCTUATION 

Orthography  is  that  branch  of  grammar 
which  treats  of  the  elementary  sounds  of  a 
language,  how  to  represent  them  by  letters  or 
symbols,  and  the  combinations  of  these  letters 
or  symbols  to  represent  words ;  it  includes  also 
the  right  dividing  of  words  into  syllables  (as 
when  a  word  has  to  be  divided  at  the  end  of 
a  line),  and  is  directly  related  to  punctuation. 
In  its  more  restricted  and  more  general  un- 
derstanding, orthography  is  synonymous  with 
the  art  of  correct  spelling.  This  is  probably 
the  most  unsatisfactory  branch  of  our  gram- 
mar. The  orthography  of  the  English  lan- 
guage is  a  combination  of  the  phonetic  and 
etymological  principles,  resulting  from  the 
transference  of  words  in  whole  or  in  part,  from 
other  languages,  and  the  gradual  changes  and 
combinations  that  such  words  have  undergone 
at  the  caprice  of  generations  of  writers. 
Hence,  in  the  English  language,  as  now  spoken  } 
and  written,  there  is  in  general  so  imperfect  / 
a  correspondence  between  the  sound  of  a  word  / 
and  the  sounds  of  the  several  letters  written  ' 
29 


30  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

to  represent  it,  that  the  spelling  of  almost  each 
individual  word  has  to  be  learned  by  itself. 

This  fact  has  given  rise,  during  the  past  few 
years,  to  a  movement  in  favor  of  the  simplifi- 
cation of  spelling;  some  enthusiasts  desiring 
to  drop  all  silent,  and,  as  they  say,  redundant 
letters,  while  others  more  conservatively  call 
only  for  a  simplification  and  standardization  of 
certain  classes  of  .words.  The  National  Edu- 
cational Association  has  adopted  simplified 
forms  for  the  following  twelve  words  only : 

altho  pedagog  thoro 

catalog  program  thorofare 

decalog  prolog  thru 

demagog  tho  thruout 

As  the  tendency  in  the  direction  of  simplified 
spelling  is  growing  among  periodical  publish- 
ers, a  writer  for  the  press  would  do  well  to 
ascertain,  whenever  possible,  the  feelings  in 
this  respect,  held  by  the  editors  and  publishers 
to  whom  he  may  desire  to  submit  manuscripts. 
The  majority  of  publishers  have  established 
sets  of  rules  governing  typography,  orthogra- 
phy, etc.,  for  the  use  of  their  writers,  and  in 
some  cases  these  rules,  in  printed  form,  may 
be  had  by  contributors  to  these  publications.* 

The  leading  advocate  of  simplified  spelling 
among  the  American  authorities  is  probably 


*  Such  a  set  of  rules  is  given  on  page  289. 


ORTHOGRAPHY  31 

the  "Standard  Dictionary,"*  in  which  the 
editor  says: 

*' '  In  its  effort  to  help  in  simplifying  the  spell- 
ing of  words,  this  dictionary  is  conservative, 
and  yet  aggressively  positive  along  the  lines 
of  reform  agreed  upon  almost  unanimously  by 
the  leading  philologists." 

The  policy  thus  briefly  outlined  has  made  the 
"Standard  Dictionary"  the  standard  in  many 
offices  and  it  may  always  be  followed  as  a 
safe  and  reliable  guide  in  all  matters  pertain- 
ing to  correct  spelling. 

The  "leading  philologists"  referred  to  are 
no  doubt  the  members  of  such  associations  as 
the  American  Philological  Association,  the 
Spelling  Reform  Association,  and  the  Philolog- 
ical Society  of  England.  These  are  the  fore- 
most bodies  interested  in  the  development  of 
simplified  spelling,  and  their  recommendations, 
while  not  as  yet  generally  adopted  by  publish- 
ers, tend  toward  a  simpler,  more  logical,  and 
more  uniform  style  of  orthography,  resulting 
in  a  great  saving  of  time  in  writing.  The  fol- 
lowing general  rules  have  been  recommended 
for  the  use  of  those  who  are  in  sympathy  with 
this  movement: 

Rule  1.  (1)  Change  final  "ed"  to  "t"  when 
so  pronounced,  as  in  abashed  (abasht),  wished 
(wisht),  etc.,  and,  if  a  double  consonant  pre- 
cedes, drop  one  of  the  consonants,  as  in  chipped 
(chipt),  dressed  (drest),  hopped  (hopt),  etc. 

*Published  by  Funk  and  Wagnalls,  New  York. 


32  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

(2)  Retain  final  "ed"  when  the  "e"  affects 
a  preceding  sound: 

(a)  When  the  preceding  vowel  sound  is 
long  and  expressed  by  a  single  letter,  as  the  fol- 
lowing : 

Baked,  not  bakt,  as  bakt  would  be  pro- 
nounced as  backed. 

caked,  not  cakt 

craped,  not  crapt 

draped,  not  drapt 

gaped,  not  gapt 

chafed,  not  chaft 

coped,  not  copt 

moped,  not  mopt 

roped,  not  ropt 

N.  B.  The  '  *  e  "  does  not  affect  the  preceding 
vowel  sound  when  expressed  by  two  or  more 
letters,  as  in  booked  (bookt),  bleached 
(bleacht),  crouched  (croucht). 

(b)  When  a  preceding  "c"  has  the  sound 
of  "s,"  as  in  chanced  (not  chanct),  forced  (not 
forct),  faced  (not  fact),  etc. 

Rule  2.  (1)  Drop  "ue"  at  the  end  of  words 
when  the  preceding  vowel  is  short  or  a  diph- 
thong, as  in  dialogue,  catalogue,  etc.  Thus, 
spell  dialog,  catalog,  etc. 

(2)  Retain  "ue"  when  the  preceding  single 
vowel  is  long,  as  in  prorogue,  vogue,  plague, 
vague,  fatigue,  etc. 

Rule  3.  (1)  Drop  final  "e"  from  words  end- 
ing in  "ite"  when  the  "i"  is  short,  as  hypo- 
crit,  opposit,  requisit,  etc. 

(2)  Retain  final  "e"  when  the  "i"  is  long, 
as  in  finite,  polite,  unite,  etc. 

Rule  4.  Drop  final  "te"  in  words  like  ciga- 
rette, coquette,  quartette,  etc.  Thus,  spell  ciga- 


ORTHOGRAPHY  33 

ret,  coquet,  quartet,  and  all  words  of  the  same 
class  which  are  Anglicized. 

Rule  5.  (1)  Drop  final  "me"  in  words  like 
programme,  and  spell  program. 

(2)  Retain  final  "me"  in  written  medical 
prescriptions,  where  the  form  gram  might  be 
mistaken  for  grain,  and  cause  serious  error. 

Rule  6.  ( 1 )  Drop  final  "  e  "  from  words  end- 
ing in  "ile"  when  the  "i"  is  short,  as  in 
fragilfe,  ductil(e,  etc. 

(2)  Retain  final  "e"  when  the  "i"  is  long, 
as  in  gentile,  exile,  etc. 

Rule  7.  (1)  Drop  final  "e"  from  words  end- 
ing in  "ine"  when  the  "i"  is  short,  as  in  dis- 
ciplin(e,  doctrin(e,  feminin(e,  etc. 

(2)  Retain  final  "e"  when  the  "i"  is  long, 
as  in  sunshine,  machine,  etc. 

Rule  8.  (1)  Drop  final  "e"  from  words  end- 
ing in  "ise"  when  the  "i"  is  short,  as  in  prem- 
is(e,  treatis(e,  etc. 

(2)  Retain  final  "e"  when  the  "i"  is  long, 
as  in  wise,  etc. 

Rule  9.  Drop  "a"  from  "ea"  having  the 
short  sound  of  "e,"  as  in  feather,  leather,  etc. 

Rule  10.  (1)  Drop  final  "e"  from  words 
ending  in  "ve"  when  the  preceding  vowel  has 
its  common  short  sound,  as  in  repulsiv(e,  talk- 
ativ(e,  etc.,  or  is  expressed  by  two  letters,  as 
in  griev(e,  groov(e,  etc.,  the  "r"  counting  with 
the  vowels. 

(2)  Retain  final  "e"  when  the  preceding 
vowel  is  single  or  long,  as  in  five,  drive,  etc. 

Rule  11.  Change  the  diagraph  "  ph  "^  to  "  f  " 
wherever  it  has  the  sound  of  "f,"  as  in  diph- 
theria (diftheria),  telegraph  (telegraf),  photo_- 
graph  (photograf),  naphtha  (naftha),  etc  . 


34  ENGINEERING  LITEEATUEE 

There  have  also  been  rules  for  the  uniform 
spelling  of  chemical  terms  formulated  and 
adopted  by  the  Section  of  Chemistry  of  the 
American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of 
Science;  and  of  geographic  names,  by  the  per- 
manent Board  on  Geographic  Names*.  The 
forms  recommended  by  both  of  these  bodies 
have  been  adopted  by  the  editor  of  the  Stand- 
ard Dictionary. 

Punctuation,  which  is  sometimes  considered 
as  coming  under  the  head  of  Orthography,  is, 
in  its  broadest  sense,  the  art  of  dividing  lit- 
erary compositions  by  points  or  stops  to  show 
more  clearly  the  sense,  and  the  relation  of  the 
words.  If  a  sentence  consisted  of  a  simple 
statement  only,  with  just  sufficient  words  to 
express  a  single  idea,  the  only  mark  of  punc- 
tuation needed  would  be  a  period  at  the  end. 
But  when  the  statement  is  compounded  and 
complicated  by  modifiers  and  conditions,  there 
arises  the  necessity  for  some  sort  of  device  that 
will  clearly  indicate  the  divisions  and  the  rela- 
tionship of  the  different  parts.  Such  a  need  is 
supplied  by  the  various  marks  of  punctuation. 
Their  proper  use  is  partly  a  matter  of  custom 
and  partly  just  common  sense.  Custom  should 
be  observed,  if  only  to  prevent  the  appearance 
of  eccentricity  on  the  part  of  the  writer.  It  is 
not  in  the  province  of  this  book  to  give  detailed 


*  The  report  of  this  board,  containing  a  complete 
list  of  these  spellings,  can  be  obtained  at  a  small  cost 
from  the  Public  Printer,  Washington,  D.  C. 


PUNCTUATION  35 

rules  for  the  use  of  the  various  marks  of  punc- 
tuation— the  comma,  semicolon,  colon,  period, 
etc.  These  details  can  be  found  in  any  work  of 
grammar  and  in  many  other  books,  and  it  should 
only  be  necessary  here  to  say  that  great  care 
should  be  exercised  in  their  use.  Their  proper 
use  enables  the  writer  to  make  his  meaning 
clear;  their  omission  or  misuse — even  of  a 
comma — may  render  a  sentence  obscure  and 
ambiguous.  For  instance,  in  the  discussion  of 
a  certain  accident: 

"The  engineer^  said,  the  contractor,  *  was  a 
man  not  to  be  depended  upon." 

Here  the  contractor  is  certainly  the  guilty 
party,  but  by  the  insertion  of  two  commas,  the 
tables  are  turned  against  the  engineer: 

"The  engineer,  said  the  contractor,  was  a 
man  not  to  be  depended  upon." 

The  engineer  who  is  called  upon  to  write 
reports,  contracts,  and  specifications  may,  as 
-has  often  been  the  case,  by  a  misplaced  mark, 
involve  himself  in  a  lawsuit.  In  literary  work, 
such  as  books  and  periodical  articles,  if  errors 
are  made  in  a  contribution  otherwise  acceptable, 
the  editor  will  correct  them,  according  to  his 
prescribed  policy,  but  this  revision  should 
properly  be  done  by  the  writer.  A  badly  punc- 
tuated, badly  spelled,  and  badly  written  com- 
position always  stands  less  chance  of  accept- 
ance than  one  containing  even  less  valuable 
matter,  but  carefully  prepared  for  an  editor's 
examination. 


IV 


WORDS  AND  PHRASES 

Words — single  parts  of  speech,  or  combina- 
tions of  sounds,  expressing  ideas — and  Phrases 
— two  or  more  words  forming  particular  modes 
of  speech,  or  Idioms,  and  as  a  unit,  expressing 
a  single  idea — are  among  the  most  potent  in- 
struments at  the  command  of  man,  and  of  the 
writer  in  particular.  By  their  proper  use  the 
engineer  makes  clear  his  meaning  to  clients 
and  contractors,  convincing  one  of  the  wisdom 
of  his  propositions  and  binding  the  other  to  exe- 
cute them.  Through  the  improper  or  careless 
use  of  words,  the  engineer  lessens  his  chances 
of  making  himself  understood  by  clients  and 
contractors,  and  provides  loopholes  for  the  lat- 
ter to  evade  their  obligations,  and  may  even 
bring  ultimate  confusion  upon  himself.  If  these 
statements  are  true  of  words  and  phrases  in 
general,  how  much  more  true  are  they  when 
applied  to  specialized  technical  terms ! 

There  is  unquestionably  much  carelessness 
displayed  by  engineers  and  engineering  writers 
in  their  use  of  terms  to  designate  specific  en- 
gineering ideas.  So  many  lawsuits  have  cen- 
tered around  the  meaning  of  some  technical, 
or  even  non-technical  word,  that  they  now 
36 


WORDS  AND  PHRASES  37 

excite  no  particular  interest,  and  we  are  likely 
to  skim  over  the  abstracts  of  such  cases  with 
little  thought  that  our  own  use  of  words  is 
seldom  commendable  for  its  perfect  absence  of 
ambiguity.  We  speak  of  "dirt  roads"  when 
we  mean  "earth  roads,"  and  see  no  danger 
signal  in  our  perversion  of  the  word  "dirt"; 
we  also  speak  of  the  4 '  inauguration  of  a  plant ' ' 
when  we  mean  the  "installation  of  a  plant." 
In  a  word,  we  unconsciously  use  metaphorical, 
inaccurate,  and  involved  expressions  so  fre- 
quently that  we  are  ever  in  danger  of  being 
vague  when  we  wrish  to  be  precise.  In  most 
cases,  it  is  true,  the  context  is  such  as  to  pre- 
vent any  misunderstanding  as  to  the  idea  in- 
tended; but  this  is  only  scant  justification  for 
the  careless  use  of  words,  for  the  reader  must 
then  gather  from  several  words  or  sentences 
the  idea  which  should  have  been  conveyed  by 
a  single  term. 

The  Basis  of  Engineering  Terminology.  A 
misspelled  or  wrongly  interpreted  word  may 
result  in  serious  consequences,  even  in  a  death, 
and  partly  for  this  reason,  and  partly  on  ac- 
count of  the  unchanging  nature  of  matters 
pertaining  to  medicine  and  surgery,  med- 
ical terms  have  been  standardized.  These  usu- 
ally apply  to  certain  scientific  facts,  and  have 
been  given  Latin  names  which  convey  the  same 
understanding  to  medical  men  in  all  parts  of 
the  country,  regardless  of  localisms.  But  in 


38  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

order  to  use  and  understand  engineering  terms 
correctly,  the  establishment  of  a  precise  code 
of  such  terms,  to  be  followed  in  all  engineering 
writings,  is  not  necessary.  In  fact,  the  method 
of  the  development  of  engineering  terminology 
and  its  status  at  any  one  time  does  not  permit 
of  this.  The  objects  and  phenomena  with 
which  engineers  deal  are  in  most  cases  not 
specialized  scientific  facts,  to  be  given  Latin 
names  and  discussed  in  abstruse  language ; 
rather  they  are  things  with  which  men  in  gen- 
eral are  more  or  less  familiar,  and  to  which,  in 
many  cases,  they  have  already  given  names. 
When  the  engineer  comes  to  deal  with  them, 
he  generally  takes  over  the  word  that  is  al- 
ready in  the  language,  but  he  may  later  extend 
its  meaning  to  cover  analogous  ideas,  or  he 
may  restrict  it  to  a  specialized  phase  of  the 
original  idea,  to  suit  his  needs.  When  the 
word  in  its  final  meaning  thus  developed 
comes  into  general  acceptance  among  engi- 
neers, it  forms  part  of  recognized  engineering 
terminology.  There  are  always  many  terms 
still  in  progress  of  formation  or  development; 
different  writers  use  them  differently,  and  they 
usually  also  have  an  established  meaning  in 
our  general  vocabulary,  but  it  is  desirable  that 
the  technical  use  of  the  word  should  follow  as 
closely  as  possible  its  more  general  use ;  the 
modification  of  its  meaning  for  technical  pur- 
poses must  be  arrived  at  gradually. 


WORDS  AND  PHRASES  39 

It  is  important  to  note  also  that  a  definite 
technical  term  may  have  varying  meanings 
when  applied  to  different  cases.  Thus,  the 
"foundation"  for  a  column  is  generally  a 
mass  of  stone,  concrete,  etc.,  upon  which  the 
column  rests  by  means  of  a  base  or  shoe;  but 
the  masonry  "foundation"  may,  in  its  turn, 
be  supported  upon  an  artificial  "foundation," 
or  on  piling,  or  on  a  caisson.  The  ultimate 
"foundation"  upon  which  the  caisson  rests  is 
the  hardpan  or  rock  upon  which  it  is  designed 
to  rest  its  load.  The  word  "foundation"  is  a 
generic,  rather  than  a  particular  term,  and 
functionally,  it  will  correctly  apply  to  each  of 
the  above  cases. 

New  words  are  often  coined  to  meet  the  dif- 
ficulties of  technical  phraseology,  just  as  man's 
material  needs  are  met  by  new  contrivances, 
but  it  is  not  always  advisable  to  coin  particular 
words  for  each  of  the  separate  ideas  to  which 
any  one  word  may  be  applied.*  At  least  the 
necessity  for  a  specific  name  in  any  one  case 
must  become  clearly  apparent  before  seeking 
for  that  name.  The  deliberate  creating  of  spe- 
cific engineering  terms  is,  as  will  be  evident, 
not  an  easy  matter,  and  in  most  cases  it  would 
prove  not  only  thankless  but  also  valueless. 

*  Julius  Caesar,  who  was  an  authority  on  words  as 
well  as  on  war,  says  in  his  work  on  "Analogy:" 
"Avoid  every  unusual  word  as  a  rock."  This  may  be 
open  to  a  too  general  or  ambiguous  interpretation, 
but  serves  as  a  warning  against  the  too  promiscuous 
coinage  of  unusual  words. 


40  ENGINEERING  LITEEATURE 

What  each  writer  of  engineering  can  do,  how- 
ever, is  to  specify  his  meaning  clearly  in  every 
case,  instead  of  carelessly  using  such  a  word 
as  "foundation"  with  its  different  meanings  in 
successive  sentences. 

The  Choice  of  Technical  Words.  In  the 
choice  of  words  the  chief  object  of  the  en- 
gineer should  be  to  make  himself  clearly 
understood,  not  in  New  York  or  San  Fran- 
cisco alone,  but  by  the  capitalist,  manufac- 
turer, contractor,  or  their  engineering  repre- 
sentatives, in  any  city  of  the  land,  and  pos- 
sibly in  other  countries  as  well.  If,  then,  the 
engineer  can  find  a  word  ready  at  his  hand 
which  is  in  common  use  and  of  unmistakable 
meaning,  he  will  generally  do  better  to  adopt 
it  than  to  try  to  introduce  some  other  word 
which  may  be  more  correct  from  the  etymo- 
logical viewpoint.  But  where  a  word  is  in  use, 
even  if  quite  generally,  which  has  been  badly 
perverted  from  its  original  and  proper  mean- 
ing, and  which,  in  the  absence  of  qualifying 
or  explanatory  notes,  might  actually  mislead, 
then  an  attempt  might  well  be  made  to  put 
down  such  a  use  for  that  word  and  to  substi- 
tute one  whose  meaning  is  unmistakable. 

An  excellent  example  of  the  serious  conse- 
quences that  may  follow  the  careless  use  of 
words  is  given  in  Wait's  "Engineering  and 
Architectural  Jurisprudence  (page  526),  where 
the  indiscriminate  use  of  the  words  "road" 


WORDS  AND  PHRASES  41 

and  ''track"  in  a  set  of  specifications  led  to  a 
lawsuit  under  a  contract  to  build  a  road  be- 
tween certain  termini  at  a  specific  price  per 
mile.  This  gave  rise  to  a  dispute  as  to  whether 
the  mile  of  track  or  the  mile  of  roadbed  was 
meant  to  be  specified,  and  offers  an  instance 
of  confusion  arising  from  the  indiscriminatiug 
use  of  two  common  words.  In  fact,  it  is  these 
common  words  that  give  the  most  trouble. 
What  is  a  "road"?  Until  we  come  to  define 
it  we  are  sure  that  we  know  exactly  what  a 
road  is.  Eichard  Grant  White  in  his  book  on 
"Words  and  Their  Uses,"  takes  up  the  mean- 
ing of  the  words  "railway"  and  "railroad," 
and  argues  that  a  "road"  is  a  term  properly 
applied  to  a  roadbed,  or  to  all  that  area  set 
aside  for  road  uses.  In  that  sense,  all  the 
"right  of  way"  would  be  the  "road,"  whether 
of  a  wagon  road  or  a  railroad.  The  word 
"way,"  on  the  other  hand,  is  a  narrower  term, 
and  applies  to  the  ways  or  guides  that  support 
the  moving  body.  The  "ways"  that  a  ship 
slides  down,  a  "tramway,"  a  "railway" — 
these  are  rightly  termed  "ways"  and  not 
"roads."  It  may  not  be  difficult  to  find  objec- 
tions to  this  argument  in  the  use  of  the  term 
"railway,"  but  at  present  we  are  not  so  much 
concerned  with  the  question  of  preference  as 
with  the  habit  of  using  words  with  the  same 
precision  that  we  use  symbols  in  an  equation. 
An  example  of  the  extent  to  which  the  mis- 


42  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

use  of  technical  terms  becomes  rooted  and 
grounded  in  engineering  literature,  was  offered 
in  the  repeated  substitution  for  ''watershed," 
of  "drainage  area"  or  "catchment  area"  in 
a  report  of  the  Commission  for  Additional 
Water  Supply  for  New  York  City,  prepared  a 
few  years  ago  by  several  prominent  engineers. 
In  commenting  on  this  at  the  time,  "Engineer- 
ing News"  said  that  of  the  technical  words  in 
common  use  by  engineers,  few  have  been  ex- 
tended further  from  their  original  meaning, 
and  at  the  same  time  kept  in  close  relation  to 
it,  than  "watershed."  This  word  is  often  used 
to  denote  a  catchment  or  drainage  area,  while 
its  real  meaning,  as  given  in  the  ' '  Century  Dic- 
tionary," is  as  follows: 

Watershed :  The  edge  of  a  river  basin ;  the 
line  separating  the  waters  flowing  into  two  dif- 
ferent rivers  or  river  basins  *  *  *  some- 
times called  the  water  parting,  and  in  the 
United  States,  more  frequently  and  popularly, 
the  divide. 

The  "Century"  also  quotes  the  following 
discussion  of  the  term  from  J.  D.  Whitney's 
"Names  and  Places": 

The  summit  of  the  pass  is  called  the  divide 
or  watershed.  In  this  last  word  the  "shed" 
has  not  the  present  meaning,  but  an  obso- 
lescent one  of  "part"  or  "divide."  Skeat 
says:  "The  old  sense  of  'to  part'  is  nearly 
obsolete,  except  in  'watershed,'  the  ridge 
which  parts  river  systems."  The 

' '  watershed ' '  of  any  river  basin  limits  its  ' '  area 


WORDS  A1STD  PHRASES  43 

of  catchment,"  as  the  hydraulic  engineers 
call  it. 

Now  and  then  an  engineer  writes  "catch- 
ment area,"  or  ''drainage  area,"  instead  of 
"  watershed. "  The  dictionary  already  quoted 
inserts  under  the  main  title  "area,"  the  fol- 
lowing : 

Area  of  Catchment:  Among  hydraulic  en- 
gineers, the  area,  the  rainfall  or  drainage  of 
which  is  to  be  made  available  for  furnishing 
water  at  a  desired  point.  Catchment-basin: 
Same  as  Drainage-basin. 

And  again,  one  of  the  meanings  of  "Basin" 
is  given  as  follows : 

Basin:  In  geography,  (a)  the  area  drained 
by  a  river.  The  term  is  ordinarily  used  only 
when  speaking  of  a  large  river,  and  then  in- 
cudes  the  entire  area  drained  by  the  main 
stream  and  its  tributaries.  The  line  separating 
two  river  systems  from  each  other  is  the  water- 
shed. 

Thus  these  various  quotations  clearly  point 
out  that  a  "watershed"  is  a  line  and  not  an 
area.  As  between  "catchment  area"  and 
"drainage  area,"  doubtless  the  latter  term  is 
more  commonly  used  in  America ;  but  in  con- 
sidering available  sources  for  public  water 
supply  in  such  a  way  as  to  include  both  rain- 
fall and  area,  "catchment"  is  particularly  ex- 
pressive of  the  exact  thing  in  mind.  "Drain- 
age area"  is  likewise  notably  appropriate 
when  one  is  considering  the  extent  of  territory 
drained  by  a  stream  or  by  a  sewerage  system. 


44  ENGINEEEING  LITERATURE 

A  well-known  engineer  some  time  ago  raised 
an  objection  to  the  use  of  the  term  "Census  of 
Street  Traffic,"  urging  that  "Travel"  should 
be  substituted  for  "Traffic";  that  "Traffic" 
means  goods  and  merchandise,  and  should  not 
be  applied  to  the  number  of  horses  and  ve- 
hicles used  for  their  transportation.  While 
this  may  appear  quite  reasonable,  reference 
to  two  reliable  American  dictionaries  shows 
that  the  word  "Traffic"  is  correctly  used. 
From  the  "Century  Dictionary": 
Traffic. — 1.  An  interchange  of  goods,  etc. 

2.  The  coming  or  going  of  persons  or  the 
transportation  of  goods  along  a  line  of  travel, 
as    on    a   road,    railway,    canal,    or   steamship 
route.      (Example)    "Traffic    during    that    36 
hours  was  entirely  suspended." 

3.  The  persons  or  goods  collectively  passed 
or  carried  along  a  route  or  routes. 

Travel. — 6.  The  passage  or  concourse  of 
travelers;  persons  traveling;  as,  "The  travel 
was  very  heavy  on  outgoing  trains  and  boats. 
(Colloq.) 

From  the  ' '  Standard  Dictionary ' ' : 
Traffic. — The  exchange  of  goods,  etc. 

2.  The  business  of  transportation,  as  of  per- 
sons, animals,  or  goods;  as  railroad  or  canal 
traffic. 

3.  The   subjects  of  transportation,   collect- 
ively; the  persons,  animals,  or  goods  carried. 

Travel. — 4.  (Colloq.)  The  movement  or  con- 
course of  travelers;  as,  the  June  travel  to 
Europe 


WORDS  AND  PHEASES  45 

The  foregoing  quotations  show  that  "  Street 
Traffic"  may  correctly  be  used  to  indicate 
either  persons  or  goods  passing  along  a  street, 
and  hence,  by  inference,  to  denote  passing 
horses  and  vehicles.  Both  authorities  class  the 
use  of  "Travel,"  when  applied  to  those  travel- 
ing, as  colloquial.  The  engineer  referred  to, 
however,  maintained  that,  in  spite  of  the  dic- 
tionary definitions,  there  is  no  sufficient  rea- 
son for  not  adopting  a  more  exact  and  satisfac- 
tory word  to  describe,  in  a  technical  sense,  the 
action  referred  to,  as  the  meaning  of  technical 
terms  and  the  nomenclature  of  engineering, 
accepted  by  the  profession,  is  not  always  in 
accord  with  the  definitions  in  the  dictionaries, 
whose  function  it  is  to  define  rather  than  to 
dictate.  It  is  a  well  recognized  fact  that  the 
engineering  profession  has  been  more  careless 
than  any  other  in  the  adoption  and  use  of 
accurate  technical  terms,  but  as  already  stated, 
the  method  of  the  development  of  engineering 
terms  does  not  permit  of  a  clearly  defined,  ac- 
curate, and  scientific  system  of  nomenclature. 

This  lack  of  precision  is  also  well  exempli- 
fied in  the  terms  used  in  the  drafting  room. 
The  designs  for  a  building  are  collectively 
called  " plans,"  but  in  another  sense,  only  the 
horizontal  projections  are  "plans."  Some 
draftsmen  make  "front  views"  and  others 
make  "front  elevations";  some  prepare 


46     .  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

"plats"  while  others  get  up  "plots" — though 
innocent  of  any  attempt  at  intrigue. 

A  type  of  expression  that  has  sometimes 
been  questioned,  is  the  use  of  the  singular  or 
plural  in  such  terms  as  a  "ten  hour's  journey" 
or  a  "50-foot  span."  These  are  idioms  of  the 
language,  based  on  euphony,  that  have  been 
used  by  the  best  writers  probably  for  cen- 
turies, and  they  must  be  recognized  as  such. 
Any  person  who  says  a  "50-feet  span"  violates 
the  idiom  of  the  language  for  the  sake  of  a 
rather  far-fetched  purism,  and  if  he  should 
submit  a  manuscript  to  a  periodical,  contain- 
ing this  expression,  the  editor  would,  before 
printing  it,  change  "feet"  to  "foot,"  just  as 
he  would  correct  an  obvious  error  in  grammar 
or  spelling.  Further,  in  this  usage,  "foot" 
must  be  considered  as  an  adjective,  and  as 
such  has  no  plural  form. 

One  of  the  most  familiar  cases  of  confusion 
of  nomenclature  is  one  that  has  arisen  during 
the  past  few  years  with  the  development  of  the 
use  of  the  combination  of  concrete  and  steel, 
generally  known  as  "reinforced  concrete,"  or 
"concrete-steel."  In  translations  of  articles 
from  foreign  publications,  however,  the  Eng- 
lish language  has  been  seriously  strained,  and 
we  have  "armed  cement,"  "armed  concrete," 
"ferro-concrete,"  and  various  other  misappli- 
cations, reaching  the  climax  in  the  comments 
in  one  of  the  technical  journals  on  the  need  of 


WOKDS  AND  PHEASES  47 

''more  vigorous  safeguarding  of  the  quality 
of  the  cement  and  the  entrained  steel." 

It  is  recognized  that  phraseology  is  but  a 
matter  of  custom,  subject  to  change  at  the 
hands  of  various  authorities,  but  a  question 
arose  some  years  ago  regarding  the  right  of  a 
former  publication  committee  of  the  American 
Society  of  Civil  Engineers  to  rule  out  the  use 
of  the  word  "lineal"  and  substitute  ''linear" 
in  such  expressions  as  lineal  inch,  foot,  etc. 
In  the  slight  controversy  that  followed,  one 
writer  stated  his  opinion  that  in  connection 
with  units  of  measurement,  "lineal"  should  be 
retained  as  being  an  older  and  better  form. 
Another  writer  made  the  distinction  of  using 
the  two  terms  of  applying  the  word  "linear" 
to  determine  dimensions  in  straight  lines,  for 
instance,  a  horizontal  plane,  as  from  center  to 
center  of  bridge  towers;  whereas  "lineal"  is 
one  of  more  inclusive  scope  as  referring  to  the 
dimensions  taken  along  the  cables  of  the  road- 
way, or  the  sinuous  contour  of  a  pipe  line.  This 
view  of  the  case  appears  to  be  justified  by  the 
"Century  Dictionary,"  also  by  comparison 
with  such  relative  terms  as  "radius,"  implying 
a  fixed  dimension,  versus  "radial" — a  general 
reference  to  a  line  or  lines  projected  from  a 
center  towards  a  circumference;  and  in  the 
same  sense,  the  terms  "diameter"  and  "di- 
ametral"; the  latter  being  well  established 


48  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

in  designating  the  gear  system,  "diametral 
pitch." 

Another  usage  that  has  been  discussed  con- 
cerns the  use  of  the  word  "lacing"  to  replace 
"double  latticing,"  which  has  been  considered 
by  some  engineers  as  unwarranted.  "Lacing" 
is  defined  as  "a  fastening  with  a  string  or  cord 
through  eyelet  holes" — "a  cord  used  in  draw- 
ing tight  or  fastening."  A  "lattice"  is  "any 
sort  of  wood  or  iron,  made  by  crossing  laths, 
bars,  or  rods,  and  forming  a  network."  As 
bridge  parts  are  "latticed"  together  to  obtain 
greater  rigidity,  it  seems  wrong  to  call  it  "lac- 
ing," and  that  "single  and  double  latticing" 
covers  all  the  needs. 

Many  other  examples  are  available  to  show 
the  differences  of  opinion  regarding  the  mean- 
ings of  certain  technical  terms,  and  the  investi- 
gation and  study,  whenever  possible,  of  such 
analyses  would  tend  toward  a  more  correct 
employment  of  terms  not  thoroughly  under- 
stood. The  use  of  a  technical  term  in  a  book 
written  by  a  recognized  authority  becomes  the 
basis  of  correct  usage,  and  subsequent  writers 
will  follow,  like  a  flock  of  sheep,  the  diction  of 
this  master  mind.  It  has  been  demonstrated 
by  many  examples  that  this  staying  power  of 
the  language  and  usage  resists  the  attacks  of 
time  and  that  the  corruption  of  a  word  will 
outlive  its  originator  and  perhaps  many  suc- 
ceeding generations. 


WORDS  AND  PHRASES  49 

The  Use  of  Common  Words.  What  has  been 
said  above  as  to  the  choice  of  words  refers 
especially  to  technical  terms,  but  the  engineer 
writing  for  the  press  or  writing  reports  and 
specifications  must  also  give  careful  attention 
to  the  use  of  the  more  common  words  and 
phrases.  What  can  better  express  the  necessity 
of  this  than  the  following  advice,  given  to  con- 
tributors to  "Engineering  News"? 

Make  It  Short. 

"Aspirants  for  journalistic  honors  should 
religiously  eschew  polysyllabic  orthography. 
The  philosophical  and  philological  substruc- 
ture of  this  principle  is  ineluctable.  Exces- 
sively attenuated  verbal  symbols  inevitably  in- 
duce unnecessary  complexity  and  consequently 
exaggerate  the  obfuscation  of  the  mentality  of 
the  peruser.  Conversely,  expressions  which 
are  reduced  to  the  furthermost  minimum  of 
simplification  and  compactness,  besides  con- 
tributing realistic  verisimilitude,  constitute  a 
much  less  onerous  handicap  to  the  reader's 
perspicacity. 

"Observe,  for  instance,  the  unmistakable 
and  inescapable  expressiveness  of  onomatopo- 
etic,  inter jectional,  monosyllabic  utterances, 
especially  when  motivated  under  strenuous 
emotional  circumstances.  How  much  more  ap- 
pealing is  their  euphonious  pulchritude  than 
the  preposterous  and  pretentious  pomposity  of 
elongated  verbiage." 

"Fine  writing"  is  a  fault— it  is  used  in 
newspapers,  sometimes  for  the  sake  of  elabo- 


50  ENGINEERING  LITERATUEE 

rating  on  details,  or,  in  other  words,  to  fill 
space,  as  in  the  following  example,  which  ap- 
peared in  a  Texas  newspaper: 

A  bright  sun  and  a  pleasant  afternoon  seemed  to 
halo  the  happy  occasion,  and  its  refulgence  to  fore- 
cast the  happiness  of  a  union  of  two  young  hearts 
that  hau  been  devoted  from  youth  and  young  girl- 
hood through  the  years  to  the  full  maturity  of  young 
manhood  and  womanhood,  and  at  last  so  auspiciously 
brought  together  under  the  holy  sanction  of  God's 
ordinance  to  beat  as  one. 

On  the  very  threshold  of  their  lives  they  start  to- 
gether along  the  journey  of  existence,  hand  in  hand, 
heart  to  heart,  full  of  that  hope  and  that  joy  which 
aureoles  the  vistas  that  stretch  out  before  them  and 
gives  promise  of  so  much  of  that  brightness  that 
pleases  and  gives  zest  to  life. 

After  the  ceremony  which  made  them  one,  a  wed- 
ding dinner  awaited  them,  and  in  that  feast  of  good 
things  they  read  an  earnest,  it  is  hoped,  of  the  largess 
fate  with  kindly  hand,  has  in  store  for  them  through- 
out all  their  years  to  come,  and  with  the  blessings  of 
those  they  love  and  who  love  them.  It  is  the  sincere 
hope  of  all  their  many  friends  that  no  shadow  may 
ever  fall  upon  their  lives  and  only  fragrant  flowers 
bloom  along  their  pathway. 

Often,  also,  in  newspapers,  the  employment 
of  circumlocutory  or  vague  expressions  are 
used  to  tell  of  a  death  or  to  hide  a  disagree- 
able or  vulgar  fact,  as  in  the  following  exam- 
ple, from  an  English  paper: 

We  are  being  constantly  reminded  of  the  certain, 
and  it  may  be  sudden,  visit  of  "the  angel  with  the 
amaranthine  wreath,"  and  it  is  our  painful  duty  to- 
day to  chronicle  the  melancholy  fact  that  one  who 
has  played  his  part,  and  played  it  well  in  life,  has 
passed  through  nature  to  eternity. 

In  oratorical  diction,  an  elegant  "flow  of 
language "  is  used  for  its  impressive  effect  on 
the  audience.  But  "beating  around  the  bush"; 


WOEDS  AND  PHRASES  51 

elegance  and  copiousness  of  diction;  the  use  of 
superfluous  words  and  details — redundancy, 
tautology,  verbosity,  etc. — have  no  place  in 
technical  writing.  Yet  superfluous  matter  in 
manuscripts  is  one  of  the  greatest  troubles 
editors  have  to  contend  with,  and  even  in 
specifications,  in  the  preparation  of  which  con- 
ciseness is  second  only  to  clearness,  superflu- 
ous clauses  are  by  no  means  uncommon,  as,  for 
instance,  in  the  following  clause  taken  from  a 
printed  set  of  specifications: 

It  is  expressly  specified  that  in  entering  into 
the  agreement  to  perform  the  work  herein 
specified,  the  contractor  admits  that  he  has 
read  each  and  every  clause  of  these  specifica- 
tions and  the  circular  of  instructions,  fully 
understands  the  meaning  of  the  same,  and 
that  he  will  comply  with  all  the  requirements 
herein  set  forth. 

Here  50  words  have  been  used  to  say — what  ? 
Merely  that  the  contractor  who  has  signed  the 
contract  has  read  its  requirements — an  as- 
sumption that  is  implied  by  the  act  of  signing 
the  contract.  The  clause  is  wholly  superflu- 
ous on  that  account,  but  leaving  aside  any  such 
legal  considerations,  consider  only  the  wording 
of  the  clause.  There  is  no  need  of  saying  that 
anything  is  "expressly"  specified  in  a  specifi- 
cation. Everything  in  a  specification  is  "spec- 
ified" and  nothing  is  any  more  "expressly 
specified"  than  anything  else.  The  words  "in 
entering  into  this  agreement  to  perform  the 


52  ENGINEEEING  LITEBATUEE 

work  herein  specified,"  add  nothing  to  the 
clearness  or  scope  of  the  clause,  for  the  speci- 
fication certainly  relates  to  no  work  outside 
the  work  " herein  specified."  Again,  "the  con- 
tractor admits  that  he  *  *  *  fully  under- 
stands the  meaning  of  the  same. ' '  Aside  from 
the  fact  that  it  is  hard  to  understand  how  a 
man  can  "admit"  that  he  understands,  it  is 
unnecessary  for  the  contractor  to  say  so,  as 
his  signature  "admits"  that.  Finally,  "he 
will  comply  with  all  the  requirements  herein 
set  forth."  Of  course  he  will.  What  are  the 
specifications  and  contracts  for  if  not  to  insure 
compliance  with  their  requirements?  And 
being  so,  there  is  not  the  slightest  need  of 
using  even  ten  words  to  state  the  fact. 

At  the  same  time,  while  the  use  of  common, 
plain  words  is  advisable,  discrimination  must 
be  shown  in  their  use.  The  dictionaries  con- 
tain more  than  100,000  wTords  and  the  average 
man  knows  only  about  3,000.  The  writer  with 
a  slim  vocabulary  repeats  words  too  often,  fre- 
quently within  a  few  lines.  This  not  only 
makes  monotonous  reading,  but  also  makes  the 
reader  feel  the  narrowness  of  the  writer's  vo- 
cabulary, which  in  turn  implies  narrowness  of 
thought. 

For  purposes  of  our  mere  existence,  a  few 
hundred  words  would  serve  us;  few  ideas  are 
necessary  for  mere  existence,  and  generally 
speaking  a  man  of  few  ideas  has  few  words 


WORDS  AND  PHRASES  53 

at  his  command.  A  man  who  has  1,000  words 
for  expressing  his  wants,  feelings,  and  ob- 
servations has  fewer  wants  than  a  man  who 
has  at  command  2,000  words.  That  most  of 
us  feel  this  need  of  words  is  well  indicated 
by  the  frequent  use  of  such  expressions  as: 
''You  know  what  I  mean";  "I  can't  think  of 
just  the  word  I  want";  "I  had  that  word  on 
the  end  of  my  tongue";  "The  right  word  will 
come  to  me  in  a  minute,"  etc.  Sometimes  it 
comes  but  oftener  it  does  not. 

Not  only  must  the  wrriter  have  a  wide  range 
of  choice,  but  also  the  reader  must  have  a 
sufficient  number  of  words  at  command  to  get 
the  thoughts  of  the  writers  he  reads.  Two 
cases  of  evident  lack  of  proper  words  to  ex- 
press the  exact  meaning  were  shown  in  two 
specifications  sent  to  a  periodical,  one  of  which 
spoke  of  "demoralized  rock"  and  the  other  of 
"wholesome  earth."  The  editor  suggested 
that  contractors  might  have  to  attend  courses 
on  Ethics  and  Dietetics,  in  one  to  learn  to 
know  whether  he  is  associating  with  reputable 
stone  or  not;  and  in  the  other  to  be  taught  to 
distinguish  palatable  from  unpalatable  soil. 

It  seems  hardly  necessary,  then,  to  say  that 
every  one  should  try  to  get  a  large  vocabulary 
— and  constantly  try  to  enlarge  upon  that. 
Words  represent  wealth  of  thought;  the  more 
words,  the  more  ideas.  If  a  writer  has  several 
words  that  represent  the  same  idea  he  can 


54  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

express  exactly  what  he  means  better  than  if 
he  had  but  one  word,  and  he  can  give  a  variety 
of  style  in  his  writings  that  rests  the  reader's 
mind  and  adds  to  his  interest  and  enjoyment 
in  the  work.  Therefore,  add  to  your  store  of 
words  in  order  that  you  may  have  a  richer 
mental  life,  that  you  may  better  understand 
and  appreciate  writers  who  do  have  many 
words,  and  that  you  may  never  be  at  a  loss 
for  the  right  word  when  you  want  it. 

But  how  can  a  vocabulary  be  enlarged?  In 
the  first  place,  two  kinds  of  vocabularies  must 
be  recognized;  first,  it  is  a  commonplace  that 
we  understand  many  words  that  we  never 
use — this  may  be  called  our  ''passive"  vocabu- 
lary, and  the  words  we  actually  have  use  for 
may  be  called  our  active  "working'7  vocabu- 
lary. In  the  opulence  of  our  language  we 
should  discriminate  between  these  and  strive  to 
enlarge  the  latter — by  the  study  of  dictionaries, 
books  on  synonyms,  glossaries,  and  the  special 
vocabularies  employed  by  separate  trades  and 
professions,  always  remembering  that  words 
have  a  suggestive  power  that  is  greater  than 
their  dictionary  meaning. 

We  will  not  discuss  the  troublesome  words 
"it,"  "they,"  "their,"  and  "them,"  and  a 
number  of  other  words,  the  indiscriminate  use 
of  which  is  a  source  of  much  ambiguity  in 
technical  writing;  their  proper  use  is  a  matter 
of  grammar.  We  would  rather  warn  the  en- 


WOEDS  AND  PHEASES  55 

gineer-author  against  the  employment  of  cer- 
tain overworked  pet  expressions  and  to  urge 
either  their  disuse  or  the  acquisition  of  new 
words  and  phrases  that  will  convey  the  mean- 
ing just  as  well.  A  few  of  these  are: 

Up-to-date  (as  an  adjective) 

Of  course 

In  this  connection 

In  addition  to 

That  is  to  say 

As  will  be  evident 

Due  to  its,  this,  that,  etc. 

It  should  be  noted 

Within  the  scope  of 

In  other  words 

Owing  to  the  fact  that 

On  the  other  hand 

This  feature  of  the  subject  has  now  been 
considered  long  enough  to  show  most  of  the 
faults  in  literary  expression  that  come  from 
the  improper  and  careless  use  of  words  and 
phrases,  and  which  are  caused  chiefly,  by  scanti- 
ness of  vocabulary.  We  will  conclude  by  quot- 
ing from  an  address  by  George  A.  Wardlaw, 
before  the  engineering  students  of  Cornell 
University  : 

"Careful  reading  of  the  classics  will  help 
materially  to  overcome  both  defects  (' inapt 
diction  and  grammatical  heresy'),  for  the  clas- 
sics are  classics  only  because  they  put  sound 
thoughts  in  pure  language.  Here  the  elements 


56  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

and  qualities  of  style  are  handled  with  great 
delicacy  of  touch;  the  masters  are  at  work 
painting  word-pictures  of  rare  merit ;  the  right 
word  is  in  the  right  place;  there  is  harmony 
between  verbs  and  noun;  pronouns  are  not 
uncertain  about  their  antecedents;  and  the 
"lid"  is  on  the  split  infinitive.  There  is  clear- 
ness and  force  and  efficiency.  Prose  classics 
for  grammatical  purity,  then ;  poetry  for  clear 
and  forceful  diction;  both  alike  for  rhetorical 
beauty  and  literary  efficiency." 


INSPIRATION  AND  MOTIVE 
IN  LITERARY  WORK 

Why  is  the  professional  man  more  inclined 
to  literary  work  than  the  commercial  man? 
The  conditions  of  attaining  success  are  vastly 
different;  for  instance,  display  advertising  is 
essential  to  the  success  of  the  commercial  man ; 
but  as  such  practice  is  contrary  to  the  profes- 
sional etiquette  of  the  doctor,  lawyer,  or  en- 
gineer, the  professional  man,  and  this  refers 
to  the  engineer  especially,  is  moved  to  literary 
work,  frequently,  by  a  desire  for  publicity  (see 
page  10). 

self-advancement  is  the  motive 
which  causes  the  production  of  most  of  articles 
in  our  engineering  publications.  An  engineer 
completes  a  piece  of  work  and  says  to  himself, 
*  Now,  if  I  write  an  elaborate  description  of  this 
work  it  will  add  to  my  professional  reputation. ' 
Really  the  question  he  ought  to  ask  is  this :  '  Is 
there  anything  in  this  work  I  have  done  that 
my  brother  engineers — perhaps  my  business 
rivals — would  find  it  useful  to  know  about?' 
When  he  solves  a  difficult  problem  does  he  say : 
{I  ought  to  publish  the  solution  of  that  prob- 
lem to  help  some  other  fellow  who  may  also 
have  to  struggle  with  it'? 

"That  is  the  standard  which  I  want  to  see 
57 


58  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

followed  more  and  more  by  the  engineers  who 
create  engineering  literature;  *  *  *  The 
adoption  of  this  standard  will  do  more  than 
anything  else  to  solve  our  difficulties  and  on  the 
other  hand  to  make  accessible  a  great  amount 
of  valuable  and  useful  information  that  is  now 
being  selfishly  hoarded  by  private  interests/'* 

The  business  man  seeks  to  build  up  a  big 
commercial  machine — manufacturing,  whole- 
sale or  retail  selling,  etc. — and  needs  compara- 
tively little  book  knowledge,  but  must  know 
the  trend  of  markets  and  values,  manufactur- 
ing processes,  and  business  methods.  The  pro- 
fessional man,  on  the  other  hand,  is  an  inde- 
pendent, one-man  power,  or  a  part  of  a  small 
organization,  or  a  unit  in  a  large  organization. 
He  needs  a  great  deal  of  theoretical  instruc- 
tion, as  given  in  colleges,  books,  periodicals, 
lectures,  etc. ;  also  a  great  deal  of  practical  in- 
struction and  special  training,  obtained  from 
shop  work,  field  work,  etc.;  while,  in  common 
with  the  commercial  man,  he  must  have  a  wide 
knowledge  of  human  nature. 

Inspiration  to  literary  work  may  be  drawn 
from  natural  ability, 
surroundings, 
tendencies  derived  from 

previous  training, 
present  occupation, 
all  of  which  are  more  closely  identified  with 

*From  address  on  "The  Making  of  Literature  for 
Engineers,"  before  the  engineering  students  of  the 
University  of  Michigan,  by  Charles  Whiting  Baker, 
Editor  of  "Engineering  News." 


WOEDS  AND  PHKASES  59 

the  work  of  the  professional  man  than  with 
that  of  the  commercial  man. 
Motive  in  writing  may  be 
to  gain  publicity  (as  mentioned  above), 
to  make  money  by 

sale  of  literary  productions, 
securing     business     through     corres- 
pondence, 

to  fill  a  gap  in  the  literature  of  the  pro- 
fession, aside  from  any  desires  for 
money  or  fame, 

to  explain  a  new  principle  or  theory, 
to  describe  a  new  device, 
to  correct  an  error  or  false  theory, 
to  relate  an  experience  that  may  be  of  in- 
terest to  the  profession, 
to  bring  together  scattered  fragments  of 

information  on  any  special  subject, 
to  meet  the  requirements  of  his  occupation, 

as  in  reports,  specifications,  etc., 
to  make  public  the  results  of  original  re- 
search, 

Motive  in  speaking  may  be 
to  gain  publicity, 
to  make  money  by  lecturing, 
teaching, 
interviews, 

to  address  public  bodies,  council  boards, 
courts,   committees,  boards 
of  directors,  etc.,  on  behalf 
of  special  interests, 
public    gatherings — social   or 
otherwise — for    entertainment    or    in- 
struction, e.  g.,  to  announce  new  dis- 
coveries in  science,  to  commemorate  a 
special  -occasion,  to  eulogize  some  one, 


VI 

ESSENTIALS  TO  SUCCESS 
IN  LITERATURE 

The  first  essential  to  success  in  any  work  is 
to  have  a  definite  aim,  and  this  is  especially 
so  in  writing  and  speaking.  The  motive  will 
shape  the  style  of  the  work,  so  first  decide  on 
the  motive  and  then  fit  everything  to  that.  In 
technical  literature,  however,  while  aim  is  a 
primary  essential  to  the  writer's  success,  an 
essential,  hardy  less  important,  to  the  success 
of  the  articles  is  that  they  should  be  written 
by  technical  men.  A  great  deal  of  our  present- 
day  engineering  literature  is  produced  by  men 
who  not  only  are  not  engineers,  but  have  had 
no  technical  training  at  all.  During  the  past 
few  years  the  business  of  the  "literary  hack" 
has  developed  to  large  proportions  and  has 
extended  into  the  realms  of  technical  literature. 
These  hack  writers  are,  as  a  rule,  men  of  news- 
paper experience,  with  a  greater  knowledge  of 
what  is  interesting  and  popular  than  of  what 
is  of  practical  value,  and  with  considerable 
ability  and  an  untiring  industry  in  the  col- 
lecting of  information  regarding  new  things  in 
the  industrial  world,  and  in  collating  and  pre- 
senting this  information  in  attractive  readable 
60 


ESSENTIALS  TO  SUCCESS  61 

form.  Their  productions  find  a  ready  market 
in  the  more  popular  technical  periodicals,  but 
they  lack  the  essential  quality  of  accuracy, 
-based  on  the  writer's  knowledge  of  the  sub- 
ject or  of  its  fundamental  principles,  which 
can  be  possessed  only  by  men  who  have  had 
special  training. 

For  success  in  Technical  Authorship — writ- 
ing of  books,  and  the  more  substantial  forms 
of  literature — and  in  Technical  Journalism,  are 
necessary  : 

Knowledge  of  fundamental  principles, 
Years  of  special  training, 
High  scientific  ability — mathematical,  me- 
chanical, analytical,  constructive, 
Vital  knowledge  of  subject, 
Skill  in  collecting  and  arranging  ideas,  and 
in  presenting   them   in   logical   order 
and  attractive  form, 

Appreciation  of  the  information  that  pros- 
pective readers  will  find  of  value, 
Judgment  in  timeliness,  or  adaptation  to 
the   age   and  interest   of  prospective 
readers, 

Powers  of  observation,  concentration,  and 
analysis,  and  organizing  ability — a 
keen  eye  for  news  value,  and  faculty 
for  discriminating  between  essentials 
and  details, 
Power  of  expression, 

Style,  clearness,  judgment,  industry,  per- 
severance, 

Reputation,  position,  confidence,  authority 
in  reference  to  subject,  integrity. 


62  ENGINEEEING  LITERATURE 

For  success  in  Speaking,  are  necessary  most 
of  the  essentials  listed  above,  but  especially : 
Vital  knowledge  of  the  subject, 
Powers  of  observation  and  concentration, 
Judgment   in   adaptation   of   subject   and 

style  to  hearers, 

Appreciation  of  kind  of  information  hear- 
ers will  find  of  value  and  interest, 
Reputation,  position,  authority, 
Power  of  reasoning  while  on  feet,  self-con- 
trol, 

Attractive  method  of  presentation, 
Command  of  language, 
Style,  clearness,  judgment,  confidence, 
Good  voice,  address,  grace,  force. 


VII 

WHAT  TO  WRITE  ABOUT 

It  is  discouraging  to  any  writer  to  work  for 
days  or  weeks  over  the  preparation  of  a  manu- 
script, to  have  it  rejected  by  one  after  another 
publisher,  until  it  has  gone  the  entire  round 
of  the  possible  purchasers.  Yet  this  is  the  fate 
of  many  manuscripts  on  which  trouble,  ex- 
pense, and  time  have  been  lavished  to  make 
them  most  presentable.  Many  well-prepared 
manuscripts  never  see  the  light  of  day  in  pub- 
lished form,  and  others  which  are  published 
never  bring  satisfactory  financial  returns  be- 
cause the  writers  failed  in  judgment  in  the 
basic  element  of  their  work — the  selection  of 
a  suitable  subject  and  method  of  treatment. 
Every  technical  periodical  receives  many  more 
offerings  than  it  could  possibly  find  space  for 
in  its  year's  issues — ''Engineering  News,"  for 
instance,  receives  over  1,500  a  year  from  out- 
side contributors — and  some  of  these  must  be 
rejected.  The  first  rejections  are  naturally 
those  on  subjects  of  least  practical  value  to 
the  readers.  The  journal  whose  literary  se- 
lections are  made  with  the  reader's  interest 
in  view;  whose  choice  of  matter  is  based  on 
"its  usefulness  to  the  man  in  the  office,  in 
63 


64  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

the  shop  and  in  the  field,"  will  have  to  reject 
.  many  of  these  contributions  as  unsuitable  en- 
tirely on  the  basis  of  subject  matter.  It  there- 
fore becomes  a  matter  of  first  importance  to 
the  writer  to  know  what  to  write  about  that 
his  contributions  may  receive  consideration; 
and  then  a  matter  of  hardly  less  importance 
to  know  how  his  manuscript  should  be  pre- 
pared that  its  consideration  may  result  favor- 
ably. 

The  first  matter  depends  on  the  selection  of 
a  subject  in  which  engineers  are  interested,  the 
proper  treatment  of  the  subject,  and  the  sub- 
mission of  the  manuscript  to  the  right  journal. 
This  involves  careful  thought  as  to  the  current 
trend  of  engineering  literature,  and  the  literary 
policy  of  the  journals  to  which  it  is  proposed 
to  submit  the  article,  the  former  of  which  mat- 
ters will  be  outlined  here.  The  second  feature, 
that  of  preparation  and  submission  of  manu- 
script, is  treated  in  detail  on  page  112. 

What  Kind  of  Information  is  Most  Useful 
to  the  Engineer?  The  greatest  need  in  en- 
gineering literature  at  the  present  day  is 
better  quality.  The  quantity  is  all-sufficient. 
The  working  engineer  does  not  need  more  jour* 
nals  nor  more  engineering  society  proceedings, 
nor  does  he  ask  that  they  be  made  more  bulky. 
He  does  ask — and  he  has  a  right  to  ask — that 
his  precious  time  be  economized  by  those  who 
appeal  for  his  attention.  He  needs  the  aid  of 


WHAT   TO   WRITE   ABOUT  65 

engineering  literature;  never  was  practical 
knowledge  in  greater  demand;  but  he  com- 
plains— and  he  has  a  right  to  complain — when 
the  two  grains  of  valuable  information  he  de- 
sires to  use  are  hidden  in  two  bushels  of  chaff. 
He  has  no  time  to  "seek  all  day  till  he  finds 
them,"  as  Shakespeare  put  it.  On  the  contrary, 
if  he  takes  too  much  time  to  find  the  thing  he 
wants,  he  must  make  shift  to  do  without  it, 

It  may  not  be  generally  recognized  what  an 
entire  change  has  come  over  the  whole  field 
of  engineering  literature  during  the  past  few 
years,  and  how  urgent  is  the  need  that  old 
standards  be  abolished  and  new  standards  cre- 
ated. While  the  working  engineer  demands 
quality  and  not  quantity  in  his  technical  litera- 
ture, it  ought  first  to  be  made  clear  that  en- 
gineering literature  is  published  primarily  for 
the  working  engineer  and  not  for  the  amateur 
or  the  theorist.  The  writer  of  a  paper  for  an 
engineering  journal  or  an  engineering  society 
ought  to  aim,  first  and  foremost,  to  make  his 
paper  practically  useful  to  his  professional 
brethren,  and  the  measure  of  merit  of  his  paper 
is  the  extent  to  which  he  succeeds  in  this. 

It  should  be  understood  that  this  standard 
excludes  elementary  matter,  designed  not  for 
the  working  engineer,  but  for  the  student  who 
is  preparing  himself  for  professional  life.  The 
high-class  technical  journal  does  not  attempt 
to  give  an  elementary  education,  or  to  dupli- 


66  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

cate  what  has  already  been  learned  in  the  col- 
lege class  room.  It  excludes  from  its  columns 
nearly  all  matter  of  an  elementary  nature  and 
such  material  as  may  be  found  in  standard 
text-books  or  which  is  already  a  matter  of 
common  knowledge  to  the  profession.  It  seeks 
to  record  for  the  benefit  of  its  readers  such 
information  as  is  not  yet  found  in  text-books, 
and  which  never  will  find  a  place  there  nor  be 
taught  in  the  class  room.  It  is  always  looking 
for  information  on  new  and  better  ways  of  do- 
ing work;  on  new  and  better  tools,  devices, 
and  processes,  and  wherever  such  progress  is 
being  achieved,  it  is  the  province  of  the  tech- 
nical press  to  investigate  that  progress  and 
to  make  it  public  for  the  general  benefit. 

This  standard  assigns  an  inferior  place  to 
matter  which  is  merely  curious  or  amusing,  or 
entertaining,  or  of  popular,  rather  than  tech- 
nical interest.  Not  that  such  articles  should 
be  wholly  excluded,  as  a  representative  journal 
of  the  engineering  profession  ought  to  have 
something  more  in  its  pages  than  mere  aids 
to  the  day?s  work.  It  should  help  the  engineer 
to  a  larger  outlook  on  the  world's  affairs,  but 
while  these  things  may  have  a  place,  they  must 
always  rate  second  to  the  articles  of  practical 
usefulness. 

Descriptive  Articles .  Now,  what  sort  of 
papers  are  the  most  useful  and  what  are  the 
least  useful  to  the  working  engineer?  Consid- 


WHAT   TO   WRITE   ABOUT  ( 

ering  the  last  question  first,  the  least  useful 
articles  are  those  descriptive  of  particular  engi- 
neering works.  Such  articles  consume  a  large 
proportion  of  the  space  in  some  engineering 
journals  and  society  transactions,  and  there  is 
no  doubt  that  they  form  one  of  the  chief  rea- 
sons for  the  growing  habit  of  leaving  these 
publications  to  accumulate  unread  on  the 
shelves  of  libraries  or  to  find  a  final  end  in  the 
waste  basket. 

And  yet  the  situation  is  not  generally  un- 
derstood by  any  means.  Some  readers  still 
look  for  descriptions  of  particular  engineering 
works  in  their  papers,  and  think  that  they  are 
really  receiving  something  when  page  after 
page  is  filled  with  long,  detailed  descriptions 
of  this  or  that  or  the  other  piece  of  engineer- 
ing work.  It  may  seem  strange  to  say  that 
these  descriptive  articles  are  the  least  valu- 
able material ;  in  fact,  that  they  should  not 
have  the  first  place.  There  was  a  time,  and 
that  not  many  years  ago,  when  engineering 
journals  consisted  almost  wholly  of  such  ma- 
terial, but  no  journal  could  today  attempt  to 
publish  descriptions  of  every  work  of  import- 
ance— every  bridge  and  water-works  and  mine 
or  power  station — nor  would  these  descriptions 
answer  any  good  purpose.  It  may  be  as  is 
sometimes  claimed  that  multitudinous  pages  of 
such  matter  make  a  big  showing,  but  no  one 
ever  wades  through  articles  of  this  sort,  unless 


68  ENGINEEKING  LITEEATUKE 

they  are  read  by  engineers  who  are  too  young 
and  too  little  experienced  to  know  better. 

But  this  statement  does  not  mean  that  no 
such  descriptive  articles  are  of  use  or  interest. 
Many  descriptive  articles  are  well  worth  while. 
The  engineer  who  desires  to  keep  abreast  of  the 
times  wants  to  know  about  the  great  and  fam- 
ous engineering  works  that  are  in  the  public 
eye — the  Panama  Canal,  the  electrification  of 
railroads,  the  boring  of  large  sub-aqueous  tun- 
nels, the  "Western  irrigation  works.  Further, 
he  must  know  something  of  the  latest  achieve- 
ments of  the  profession  in  ocean  navigation, 
in  high  buildings,  great  bridges,  and  in  a  hun- 
dred other  directions.  Not  to  know  about  such 
matters  places  him  at  a  disadvantage  in  con- 
tact with  the  public  and  with  his  brother  en- 
gineers, and  he  rightly  looks  to  his  profes- 
sional journal  for  information. 

It  is  to  the  descriptions  of  ordinary  works 
that  the  statement  of  uselessness  is  particularly 
applied.  It  must  be  recognized,  of  course,  that 
everyone  is  not  familiar  with  these  ordinary 
works  and  that  while  very  few  engineers  ever 
get  a  chance  to  build  a  record-breaking  sky- 
scraper, many  thousands  are  interested  in  the 
details  of  ordinary  buildings.  Therefore,  de- 
tails of  typical  works  of  ordinary  size  are  use- 
ful to  the  engineer  and  they  deserve  a  place 
in  ev^ry  high-class  periodical  What  is  meant 
by  descriptions  of  ordinary  works  may  be  more 


WHAT   TO  WEITE  ABOUT  69 

apparent  from  the  following  quotation  from 
a  paper  on  " Power  Plant  Economics,"  pub- 
lished in  1906: 

Three  years  ago  the  steam  power  plant 
for  the  generation  of  electricity  had  ap- 
parently settled  down  to  an  almost  uni- 
form arrangement  of  standard  apparatus 
in  which  one  power  plant  differed  from 
another  only  in  details  of  construction  of 
engines,  generators,  and  auxiliaries. 
When  the   design  of  power  stations   or  of 
dams   or   of   any   other   class   of   engineering 
works  becomes  so  standardized,  there  can  be 
no  excuse  for  loading  up  engineering  journals 
with  articles  describing  and  illustrating  works 
of  the  same  sort,  differing  only  in  their  geo- 
graphical location. 

In  considering  this  matter  of  publishing  de- 
scriptions of  engineering  works,  too,  it  is  often 
of  interest  to  note  the  enormous  change  that 
has  occurred  in  the  last  forty  years.  It  is 
hardly  so  long  ago  as  that  that  the  engineer- 
ing works  of  magnitude  were  so  few  that  it 
was  practicable  to  have  them  all  described  in 
current  engineering  literature.  The  late  George 
S.  Morison  used  to  publish  a  separate  mono- 
graph for  each  large  bridge  he  designed;  and 
in  that  day,  when  literature  of  bridges  of  any 
sort  was  very  scarce,  they  were  prized  by  the 
profession.  But  nowadays  there  are  hundreds 
of  large  bridges  and  other  engineering  works 
under  construction  all  over  the  world,  and  life 


70  ENGINEERING  LITERATUEE 

is  too  short  to  read  the  descriptions  of  the 
fiftieth  part  of  them,  even  if  they  were  printed. 
Engineering  Problems.  The  idea  which  must 
again  and  again  be  impressed  upon  con- 
tributors is:  "Don't  describe  engineering 
works,  but  describe  the  solution  of  engineer- 
ing problems."  The  working  engineer  in 
the  field  or  shop  or  office  can  seldom  copy 
direct  from  another  engineering  work  and 
would  often  be  misled  if  he  attempted 
to,  since  different  conditions  might  prevail, 
but  he  can  find  help  in  the  solutions  of  the 
problems  before  him  by  studying  the  solutions 
that  others  have  used  for  similar  problems. 
By  engineering  problems,  however,  is  not 
meant  mathematical  problems.  These  have 
their  own  value  and  importance;  but  in  the 
practical  everyday  work  of  the  engineer,  the 
problem  of  how  to  do  a  particular  thing  and 
to  do  it  successfully  arises  forty  times  as  often. 
The  distinction  between  the  descriptions  of 
works  and  of  problems  is  thus  explained  in 
"Engineering  News": 

A  certain  locomotive  has  been  built,  let  us 
say,  and  the  firm  building  it  furnishes  us 
with  drawings  and  a  stereotype  description, 
including  a  table  of  its  principal  dimens- 
sions.  We  publish  it,  very  likely,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  anything  better.  Suppose,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  man  responsible  for  the  de- 
sign of  that  locomotive  sits  down  and  tells 
a  story  of  a  different  sort.  The  locomotive, 
it  appears,  follows  ordinary  practice  in 


WHAT   TO  WRITE   ABOUT  .       71 

its  design,  except  in  its  firebox.  It  was 
desired  to  use  a  certain  kind  of  coal,  which 
gave  trouble  in  certain  specified  ways,  and 
the  problem  was,  how  to  make  a  firebox 
to  burn  this  particular  kind  of  coal;  and 
then  he  tells  us  in  detail  how  the  peculiar 
shape  and  size  of  the  firebox  were  devel- 
oped, keeping  in  mind  all  the  time  that 
only  that  part  of  the  problem's  solution 
is  worth  record  in  technical  literature 
which  will  be  practically  useful  to  his 
brother  engineers  who  have  a  similar  prob- 
lem to  solve. 

That,  in  a  nutshell,  is  our  idea  of  the 
most  useful  class  of  technical  literature, 
and  contributions  along  these  lines  always 
find  a  welcome  in  these  columns. 
Then  the  commercial  problem  is  one  of  those 
most  frequently  presented.  It  is  not  only  how 
work  can  be  done  successfully,  but  how  it  can 
be  done  at  least  cost,  that  the  engineer  has 
to  decide ;  it  is  the  business  of  the  engineering 
journal  to  give  him  aid  on  tasks  like  these. 
In  describing  such  problems,  the  question  again 
arises  as  to  how  far  to  carry  the  description 
of  the  work.  If  the  enginering  work  involves 
new  problems  of  design,  exceptional  difficul- 
ties in  execution,  novel  methods  of  work,  then 
by  all  means  write  a  description  of  them,  and 
the  writer  must  perforce  put  in  enough  con- 
cerning the  whole  work  itself  to  make  its  novel 
features  .clear.  It  is  not  such  descriptive  arti- 
cles that  are  condemned.  It  is  rather  the 
meaningless  description  of  one  engineering 


72  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

work  after  another  built  on  standard  designs 
throughout,  with  perhaps  just  enough  differ- 
ence here  and  there  to  give  the  semblance  of 
an  excuse  for  foisting  it  upon  the  patient 
reader  under  the  guise  of  engineering  litera- 
ture. If  the  writer  for  the  technical  press  will 
put  himself  in  the  place  of  the  reader,  and  try 
to  imagine  just  what  the  reader  will  want  to 
know,  he  will  find  his  task  simplified ;  particu- 
larly so  if  he  is  able  to  gage  the  wants  not 
of  one  reader  but  of  a  thousand  readers  who 
are  in  search  of  help  in  their  work. 

Construction  Details.  At  the  same  time,  it 
is  not  necessary  that  writers  on  engi- 
neering construction  should  always  look  for, 
and  choose  to  write  on,  details  about 
what  is  "out  of  the  ordinary"  and  leave  the 
ordinary  unwritten.  Let  anyone  scan  with 
care  the  indexes  to  engineering  periodicals  and 
the  statement  will  be  apparent  that,  in  genr 
eral,  the  ordinary  is  in  small  proportion  to 
the  extraordinary.  For  example,  select  bridge 
construction — not  design — and  search  through 
the  columns  of  any  engineering  publication 
for  the  past  decade  or  two.  Many  excellent 
articles  will  be  found  descriptive  of  difficult 
bridge  foundation  work  and  of  caisson  work 
in  particular,  also  a  considerable  number  of 
articles  on  floating  bridges  to  place  on  scows, 
and  many  illustrations  of  ingeniously  peculiar 
falsework.  In  fact,  there  is  almost  everything 


WHAT  TO  WBITE  ABOUT  73 

under  the  sun  except  the  description  of  the 
ordinary  details  involved  in  erecting  an  ordi- 
nary bridge  under  ordinary  conditions,  accom- 
panied with  data  of  cost. 

It  will  likewise  be  difficult  to  find  in  all  the 
range  of  engineering  literature  a  good  article 
describing  how  to  erect  a  land  pile  driver,  or 
how  to  erect  and  afterward  shift  a  guy  der- 
rick, with  details  of  the  time  and  expense  in- 
volved in  such  work.  Turn  from  bridge  build- 
ing to  trestle  and  viaduct  construction  and 
note  what  a  dearth  there  is  of  information  as 
to  practical  details — the  how  and  the  cost. 

Turn  again  to  rock  excavation  and  a  similar 
state  of  affairs  will  be  found.  On  the  most 
difficult  class  of  rock  excavation,  namely,  shaft 
and  tunnel  work,  there  are  so  many  excellent 
articles  written  by  engineers  that  one  is  at  a 
loss  which  to  read  first — and  when  to  stop 
reading.  But  let  anyone  seek  to  find  an 
article  descriptive  of  the  spacing  of  holes,  the 
charging,  the  firing,  and  the  removal  of  rock 
from  a  sewer  trench,  with  costs,  and  he 
will  look  long  and  almost  in  vain.  Such  work 
as  this,  which  so  many  hundreds  of  engineers 
have  seen,  is  by  virtue  of  its  very  common- 
ness, left  undescribed. 

Within  the  past  few  years  a  number  of  ex- 
cellent articles  have  appeared  on  the  methods 
and  costs  of  concrete  construction,  but  almost 
without  exception  the  very  important  item 


74  ENGINEEEING  LITERATUKE 

of  forms  has  been  ignored.  Yet  the  economic 
success  of  reinforced  concrete  in  building  con- 
struction is  very  largely  dependent  on  this  very 
item.  Excellent  data  have  been  given  on  the 
cost  of  making  concrete  itself,  after  the  plant 
has  been  installed,  but  little  has  been  said  of 
the  methods  and  costs  of  installing,  shifting, 
and  dismantling  the  plant.  Such  instances 
might  be  enumerated  almost  without  end  but 
this  is  sufficient  to  show  that  it  is  these  very 
simple  yet  very  important  things  that  are  so 
universally  ignored. 

An  engineer  need  not  be  the  chief  engineer 
of  a  great  work,  and  the  work  he  is  on  need 
not  be  great,  nor  even  unusual,  to  enable  him 
to  find  subject  matter  for  an  excellent  article. 
While  general  descriptions  of  great  engineering 
works  are  interesting  to  all,  they  are  of  direct 
value  to  but  a  few  readers,  and  the  same  holds 
true  of  work  of  an  extraordinary  character. 
On  the  contrary,  however,  an  analytical  dis- 
cussion of  common  work  really  is  most  uncom- 
mon, yet  by  virtue  of  its  uncommonness  it  is 
of  great  interest  to  a  host  of  readers. 

There  appears  to  be  a  fear  that  to  write  of 
little  things  belittles  the  writer.  No  fear  has 
less  reason  for  existence.  Some  of  the  most 
celebrated  engineers  of  today  owe  their  celeb- 
rity in  no  small  part  to  articles  that  they  have 
written  on  the  details  of  the  construction  of 
common  things.  A  man  who  thus  shows  him- 


WHAT   TO    WETTE   ABOUT  75 

self  to  be  a  student  of  details  is  inferentially 
regarded  to  be  a  safe  man  to  be  intrusted  with 
the  larger  problems  of  engineering  construc- 
tion, which  are,  after  all,  little  more  than  a 
vast  assemblage  of  little  problems. 

Methods  and  Costs.  In  connection  with 
this  subject  of  engineering  problems,  there 
is  probably  none  that  gives  the  average  con- 
sulting or  designing  engineer  more  trou- 
ble than  in  obtaining  definite  and  desirable 
data  that  can  be  used  with  confidence 
as  a  basis  for  estimating  the  cost  of  work. 
Second  only  to  the  desire  for  accurate 
cost  data,  or,  perhaps  primarily,  in  the  opinion 
of  some,  is  the  desire  for  detailed  information 
regarding  successful  methods  of  executing 
work;  methods  that  have  saved  expense,  saved 
time,  safeguarded  life  and  facilitated  construc- 
tive operations.  This  is  especially  the  case 
where,  as  not  infrequently  happens,  an  engineer 
is  called  upon  to  work  in  a  field  with  the  de- 
tails of  which  he  is  not  thoroughly  conversant, 
when,  manifestly,  he  cannot  rely  on  his  own 
experience,  but  must  seek  that  of  others.  His 
first  recourse  is  to  the  various  technical  peri- 
odicals and  society  transactions,  and  his  usual 
method  is  to  begin  a  search  through  these  to 
find  what  his  brother  engineers  have  put  on 
record,  and  usually,  as  shown  above,  with  very 
indifferent  results. 

Why,  in  these  professional  papers  and  arti- 


76  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

cles  in  the  technical  journals,  are  the  vital  de- 
tails of  methods  and  costs  omitted?  Presum- 
ably the  engineer  and  the  contractor  consider 
this  information,  often  the  accumulated  result 
of  many  years'  experience,  as  one  of  their 
chief  assets  and  an  important  feature  of  their 
"stock-in-trade"  on  which  they  base  their 
reputation  and  consequent  practice.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  altogether  probable  that  in 
many  cases  this  policy  of  secrecy  regarding 
prices  to  which  so  many  firms  tenaciously  ad- 
here, is  really  based  on  nothing  more  than  tra- 
dition, and  that  the  publication  of  prices  would 
react  to  the  benefit  more  than  to  the  injury 
of  the  engineer  and  the  contractor. 

The  need  of  all  available  information  of  this 
character  is-  evident.  The  engineer  or  con- 
tractor who  is  called  upon  to  furnish  an  esti- 
mate for  a  given  engineering  work  must  know 
what  such  a  piece  of  work  will  cost  to  perform 
in  order  to  make  a  bid  which  will  yield  him  a 
fair  profit,  but  which  will  not  be  so  excessive 
as  to  lose  the  job.  Then,  as  to  methods,  while 
all  information  regarding  them  is  of  value,  the 
facilities  for  performing  the  various  operations 
as  well  as  for  handling  materials,  are  constant- 
ly undergoing  such  radical  changes  that  much 
that  was  of  use  on  older  works  is  now  out  of 
date.  It  is  almost  unnecessary  to  say  that 
every  piece  of  engineering  or  contracting  work 


WHAT   TO  WRITE  ABOUT  77 

is  practically  a  problem  calling  for  individual 
solution. 

Recognizing,  then,  the  scarcity  of  methods 
and  costs  information  and  the  need  of  it,  and 
the  fact  that  there  is  plenty  of  it  among  the 
private  papers  of  engineers  and  contractors, 
;vhy  is  there  so  little  available?  One  reason 
is,  as  mentioned  above,  that  it  is  regarded  by 
some  as  their  professional  "stock-in-trade." 
Another  reason  is  the  assumed  objection  on 
the  part  of  a  superior  to  having  an  assistant 
describe  a  piece  of  work,  and  publish  the  cost 
figures,  an  objection  based,  in  the  majority  of 
cases,  entirely  upon  traditional  business  policy. 
In  such  a  description,  the  employee  naturally 
refrains  from  anything  that  might  be  consid- 
ered by  his  employer  as  revealing  private  in- 
formation, and  where  there  is  any  doubt  in 
question,  he  will  omit  data  merely  on  the 
chance  that  it  might  be  objected  to  or  will  get 
special  permission  for  its  inclusion. 

A  third  reason  for  the  omission  of  cost  data 
is  the  failure  on  the  part  of  many  engineers  to 
comprehend  the  usefulness  of  such  data  to 
other  engineers.  Many  engineers  when  they  sit 
down  to  write  a  professional  paper  undertake 
the  work  from  the  wrong  point  of  view  and 
give  merely  the  useless  and  little-desirable  de- 
scription of  a  given  piece  of  work,  instead  of 
subordinating  this  to  the  main  purpose  of  re- 
cording those  facts  and  figures  which  will  be 


78  ENGINEEEING  LITEKATUKE 

of  direct  practical  use  to  other  members  of  the 
profession.  These  facts  should  stand  out  prom- 
inently and  not  be  buried  in  a  mass  of  de- 
scriptive matter.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
should  be  sufficient  literary  excellence  to  pre- 
vent the  paper  from  becoming  a  dry  recital  of 
facts  and  figures  and  making  it  far  less  instruc- 
tive than  would  be  the  same  or  even  less  in- 
formation presented  in  such  a  manner  that  it 
compels  the  attention  of  the  reader  and  im- 
presses the  salient  facts  upon  his  memory. 

Of  these  possible  reasons  for  the  scarcity  of 
methods  and  costs  data,  the  most  important  is 
the  first;  but  taking  all  in  all,  a  knowledge  of 
costs  is  only  one  of  the  qualifications  needed 
by  a  successful  contractor  and  is  probably  the 
one  of  lightest  weight,  but  one  which  he  often 
considers  the  heaviest.  He  overlooks  or  under- 
estimates the  qualities  he  possesses  which  he 
cannot  pass  on — his  knowledge  of  when,  where, 
and  how,  to  obtain  capital  with  which  to  oper- 
rate  and  where  to  secure  bondsmen;  his  busi- 
ness ability  and  knowledge  of  how  and  where 
to  buy;  his  knowledge  of  human  nature;  his 
power  to  organize  and  discipline  his  forces  to 
secure  efficient  and  harmonious  work. 

The  day  of  secrecy  in  connection  with  tech- 
nical matters  has  very  largely  passed,  and  it 
may  not  be  out  of  place  to  quote  that  well- 
known  comment  of  Francis  Bacon:  "I  hold 
every  man  a  debtor  to  his  profession;  from 


WHAT   TO  WRITE  ABOUT  79 

the  which,  as  men  of  course  do  seek  to  re- 
ceive countenance  and  profit,  so  ought  they  of 
duty  to  endeavour  themselves  by  way  of 
amerds  to  be  a  help  and  ornament  thereunto." 

Special  Subjects.  The  choice  of  a  subject 
naturally  depends  upon  the  writer's  interest 
in  it  and  his  previous  information  or  ex- 
perience in  regard  to  it.  In  his  treatment 
of  a  subject  it  is  not  necessary  that 
the  writer  depend  on  himself.  He  may  make 
a  special  study  of  a  certain  phase  of  en- 
gineering work  or  study  and  collect  data  con- 
cerning the  labors  of  others  from  all  avail- 
able sources,  but  he  should  supplement  this 
with  the  results  of  his  own  study.  He  must  put 
original  thought  and  work  in  his  article  and 
not  make  it  merely  a  patchwork  of  other  peo- 
ple's ideas.  In  this  way  much  valuable  work 
may  be  done  in  engineering  literature,  as,  for 
example,  the  treatment  in  an  exhaustive  man- 
ner some  years  ago,  by  a  series  of  articles  in 
"Engineering  News,"  of  "Stand-pipe  Acci- 
dents and  Failures." 

The  author,  Prof.  Wm.  D.  Pence,  collected 
all  possible  information  bearing  upon  this  sub- 
ject, and,  resisting  the  temptation  to  publish 
a  general  treatise  on  stand-pipe  construction, 
he  thus  made  immediately  available  an  histori- 
cal record  of  stand-pipe  accidents  and  failures 
as  a  whole  and  stand-pipe  failures  in  general. 
Every  busy  engineer  who  has  attempted  to 


80  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

secure  exhaustive  information  on  almost  any 
engineering  subject  knows  that  most  of  the 
books  from  which  he  expects  help  contain  only 
sketchy  presentations  of  the  subject  he  is  in- 
vestigating, owing  to  the  fact  that  in  trying 
to  give  a  little  of  everything  the  authors  lack 
space,  or  knowledge,  to  give  everything  of 
something.  Turning  to  the  technical  papers  as 
must  almost  invariably  be  done  to  secure  the 
nearest  approach  to  the  whole  and  the  latest 
of  the.  available  information  sought,  it  is  found 
that  the  information  here  is  widely  scattered, 
as  it  must  be  in  this  age  of  progress.  It  is 
mainly,  therefore,  to  exhaustive  treatments  like 
that  of  Prof.  Pence  that  qne  must  look  for  any- 
thing like  an  adequate  presentation  of  a  special 
branch  or  phase  of  engineering,  or  indeed  of 
any  other  science. 

It  may  be  complained  that  I  have  treated 
this  subject  at  too  great  length — this  may  be, 
but  I  feel  that  the  importance  of  the  subject, 
and  its  treatment,  as  the  fundamental  consider- 
ations in  engineering  literature,  should  be  so 
impressed  on  the  writer  that  he  will  give  it 
careful  thought  instead  of  rushing  into  work 
on  a  manuscript  that  is  doomed  to  failure  from 
its  inception. 

In  the  last  analysis,  engineering  literature  is 
the  work  of  the  engineering  profession.  If  it 
is  to  be  made  better  and  more  useful  by  follow- 
ing out  the  lines  here  indicated,  the  work 


WHAT  TO  WRITE  ABOUT  81 

be  done  by  the  engineers.  The  technical  jour- 
nal is  a  co-operative  exchange.  If  the  prac- 
ticing engineer  looks  to  it  for  aid  in  his  work, 
he  ought  in  turn  to  impart  from  his  own  experi- 
ence for  the  benefit  of  other  members  of  the 
profession.  The  general  adherence  to  the  char- 
acter of  articles  described  might  aid  those  who 
would  thus  contribute  to  the  general  fund  of 
knowledge  in  a  way  that  would  be  of  the 
greatest  benefit  to  all. 


VIII 

COLLECTING  AND  ARRANGING 
MATERIAL 

The  collecting  of  ideas  and  material,  and  the 
arrangement  of  this  material  in  the  final  form 
of  a  literary  production  must  each  be  consid- 
ered as  a  process  in  itself.  The  writer  or 
speaker  who  writes  or  speaks  impromptu  has 
to  perform  a  five-fold  task;  he  must  collect, 
select,  proportion,  arrange,  and  express  his 
ideas  simultaneously.  Some  men  can  do  this. 
An  experienced  editor  often  gives  "copy"  to 
the  printer  just  as  he  writes  it.  Men  who  are 
accustomed  to  debate  or  speaking  in  public 
soon  acquire  the  faculty  of  thinking  while  on 
their  feet;  they  can  extemporize  volubly  on 
almost  any  subject  and  for  almost  any  time, 
but  it  is  seldom  that  such  productions,  trans- 
formed into  paper  and  printer's  ink,  could  be 
regarded  as  good  literature.  As  a  typical  il- 
lustration of  this,  read  a  speech  as  literally 
reproduced  in  the  Congressional  Record. 

Scholars  and  literary  men  often  deliver  short 
"extempore"  speeches  that  prove  most  read- 
able because  they  are  always  ready  to  be  called 
on;  they  know  from  intuition  and  training 
what  is  best  suited  to  their  audience;  they 
82 


COLLECTING  AND  ARRANGING  83 

know  that  simplicity  is  the  soul  of  style  in 
spoken  as  well  as  in  written  thought,  and  they 
adapt  their  discourses  to  the  conditions.  But 
back  of  the  seeming  "extempore"  address  has 
been  thought — prevision  and  provision;  pro- 
vision of  material  and  prevision  in  arrangement, 
against  the  ever  possible  emergency  of  a 
"speech"  call.  Most  speeches,  however,  re- 
quire careful  and  extensive  editing  before  they 
are  suitable  for  printed  literature. 

The  first  step  in  the  preparation  of  any  liter- 
ary production,  after  the  subject  has  been  de- 
cided upon,  is  the  collecting  of  material.  In 
an  article  giving  the  results  of  original  investi- 
gation, the  material  would  naturally  consist 
of  notes  representing  the  thought  and  experi- 
ences of  the  writer,  but  it  must  not  be  con- 
sidered that  all  literary  productions  are,  or 
should  necessarily  be,  entirely  the  original  work 
of  the  writer.  This  is  very  seldom  the  case. 
Technical  journals,  society  proceedings,  and 
such  publications  may,  as  already  stated,  be 
considered  as  a  co-operative  exchange  in  which 
are  first  recorded  the  results  of  original  re- 
search, discovery,  and  invention.  Men  have 
many  and  various  motives  for  writing  and 
speaking,  and  the  best  of  the  material  thus 
produced  ultimately  finds  its  way  into  print. 
This,  with  notes  of  unpublished  addresses,  etc., 
forms  the  material,  other  than  that  of  his 
original  thought,  that  is  available  to  the  tech- 


84  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

nical  writer,  and  his  duty  is  to  collect,  select, 
arrange,  and  present  it  in  the  most  useful  and 
readable  form,  according  to  his  own  judg- 
ment. In  brief,  therefore,  literary  material 
may  consist  of: 

Extracts  from  books,  periodicals,  pamphlets, 
bulletins,  society  transactions,  etc. 

Notes  of  original  research  and  thought 
addresses,  lectures,  etc, 
ordinary  conversation 

Quotations  from  literary  authorities. 

The  collecting  of  material  for  compiled 
works,  in  which  class  ninety-nine  per  cent,  of 
the  existing  technical  books  may  be  included, 
consists  mainly  in  looking  up  references  and 
the  noting  of  authorities;  a  process  requiring 
memory,  concentration,  and  judgment.  The 
manner  and  thoroughness  of  this  work  will 
depend  upon  the  conditions  as  to  time  and  re- 
sources available.  The  material  for  this  class 
of  books  is  used  in  the  form  of  either  direct 
quotations,  abridgments,  or  adaptations  of 
ideas,  and  the  rights  of  the  original  author  of 
these  ideas  should  be  a  primary  consideration 
(see  page  164). 

It  is  well  to  compile,  as  a  first  step  in  collec- 
tion of  material,  as  complete  a  bibliography  of 
the  subject  as  is  possible,  noting  the  authorities 
and  the  substance  of  the  ideas  on  index  cards. 
The  art  of  representing  ideas  by  as  few 
words  as  possible  should  be  cultivated,  and  a 


COLLECTING  AND  ARRANGING  85 

note-book  or  a  few  record  cards  should  be 
carried  to  be  ready  for  use  at  any  time,  and 
thus  no  time  need  be  wasted  in  noting  ideas 
and  no  vital  idea  need  escape.  A  single  word 
will  be  a  sufficient  record  in  many  cases  to  re- 
call  a  volume  of  facts,  and  it  will  be  surpris- 
ing how,  by  thus  concentrating,  the  power  of 
quickly  collecting  ideas  will  increase  with  prac- 
tice. These  cards  can  be  shifted  as  desired 
in  making  the  final  selection  and  arrangement 
of  material,  thus  obviating  the  necessity  of 
copying  large  quantities  of  matter  which  is 
afterwards  discarded,  and  of  handling  a  num- 
ber of  loose  sheets. 

In  the  collecting  of  material,  the  reporter's 
method  of  gathering  news  is  hardly  applicable 
to  technical  papers  which  require  study  and 
care  in  preparation,  but  material  for  short 
papers,  for  items  of  news  and  personal  interest, 
as  well  as  for  essays,  addresses,  etc.,  may  be 
gathered  from  observation  at  almost  any  time 
and  in  almost  any  class  of  work  a  man  is  en- 
gaged in.  Many  of  these  items  may  prove 
useful  to  periodicals,  as  well  as  to  the  engineer 
in  his  own  work.  They  should  always  be  noted 
and  recorded.  Observation  of  interesting  de- 
tails of  construction,  etc.,  soon  develop  in  a 
man  the  "nose  for  news";  he  will  find  inter- 
esting facts  everywhere,  and  will  derive  much 
information  from  casual  conversation  with  men 
in  different  employments.  One  should  never 


86  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

go  to  strange  place  with  his  eyes  shut,  or 
visit  a  new  piece  of  work  without  noting  all 
that  strikes  him  as  peculiar  and  important. 
The  man  who  learns  to  carry  a  mental  note- 
book or  jots  down  these  items  in  his  memo 
book  or  on  cards  will  have  little  difficulty  in 
finding  material,  and  new  subjects  worth  writ- 
ing about  will  often  spring  up  in  the  least  ex- 
pected places.  The  life  and  work  going  on 
about  us  is  our  first  source  of  ideas;  the  sec- 
ond and  scarcely  less  important  is  the  field  of 
literature  itself.  A  noting  of  items  of  infor- 
mation of  what  is  taking  place  in  the  world 
as  it  appears  in  newspapers  and  magazines 
will  give  much  material.  To  a  writer  all  these 
facts  and  ideas  are  of  use ;  they  should  not  be 
thrown  away;  they  should  be  sifted,  digested, 
selected,  and  preserved  for  future  reference. 

"When  the  material  has  been  selected,  it  must 
be  arranged,  and  otherwise  prepared  for  pub- 
lication. A  good  book  does  not  consist  merely 
of  a  compilation  of  material  and  statement  of 
facts,  however  accurate  those  facts  may  be. 
It  is  necessary  that  the  material  be  presented 
in  logical  order.  I  do  not  say  the  "best"  or- 
der as  there  is  probably  no  "best"  arrange- 
ment. There  may  be  a  best  possible,  considered 
from  the  point  of  view  of  each  particular  set 
of  readers;  there  may  be  a  best  possible  con- 
sidered in  connection  with  the  aims  of  the 
writer,  but  there  can  be  no  "best"  arrange- 


COLLECTING  AND  ARRANGING  87 

ment  of  any  particular  subject  to  suit  all  classes 
of  readers,  and  opinions  of  individuals,  and  at 
the  same  time  to  meet  the  particular  object 
the  writer  had  in  view.  But  there  can  be  a 
"logical"  arrangement. 

The  matter  of  arrangement  is  important,  as 
on  it  depends  the  success  of  the  book,  almost 
as  much  as  on  the  material  itself.  It,  in  turn, 
depends  on  the  ability  and  judgment  of  the 
writer.  The  study  of  the  arrangement  of 
works  of  a  similar  nature  by  other  writers  will 
greatly  assist.  It  is  not  necessary  or  advisable 
to  adhere  rigidly  to  any  one  of  these  existing 
arrangements,  but  as  thought  has  presumably 
been  expended  on  them,  they  will  often  give 
valuable  suggestions  regarding  the  relations 
between  subjects,  and  also  serve  as  a  warning 
against  possible  errors.  Time  spent  on  ar- 
rangement of  material  is  time  well  spent.  The 
same  principle  of  arrangement — method,  sys- 
tem— operates  throughout  our  lives  in  all  de- 
partments of  work.  Have  you  ever  noticed 
the  arrangement  of  the  parts  of  a  machine, 
packed  for  shipment;  how  hundreds  of  pieces 
and  made-up  parts  are  packed  for  shipment  in 
three  or  four  cases,  the  whole  small  in  com- 
parison with  the  built-up  machine?  The  vari- 
ous parts  are  fitted  together;  one  inside  an- 
other, a  bent  piece  fitted  around  other  various- 
ly shaped  pieces ;  flat  pieces  tied  in  a  bundle — 
and  all  in  such  order  that  much  time  is  saved 


88  ENGINEERING  LITEEATUEE 

in  the  erection  of  the  machine,  space  in  storage, 
and  expense  in  shipment.  Similarly,  by  a  logi- 
cal arrangement  of  the  text  of  a  book,  there 
is  a  saving  of  space  and  expense  to  the  writer 
and  time  to  the  reader. 

Some  literary  works  fail  from  lack  of  a  logi- 
cal plan;  others  because  the  plan  was  faulty. 
The  chief  faults  in  plans  of  books  or  papers 
lie  in  their  incompleteness;  the  lack  of  unity, 
proportion,  interest,  and  cohesion;  the  misuse 
of  quotations,  and  in  the  careless  method  of 
arranging  the  material.  The  outline  plan 
should  be  as  complete  as  possible — none  of  the 
topics  to  be  treated  should  be  omitted.  There 
should  be  unity — stick  to  the  subject  and  avoid 
digressions.  There  should  be  proportion — this 
depends  largely  upon  the  final  expression  but 
also  much  upon  the  arrangement  of  topics; 
what  is  important  should  be  brought  forward 
and  what  is  relatively  unimportant  should  be 
retired  to  the  background.  There  should  al- 
ways be  interest — one  writer  may  produce  a 
book  containing  a  valuable  record  of  facts  and 
experience,  but  written  in  a  style  about  as 
readable  as  the  Patent  Office  Gazette  or  the 
Census  Report,  while  another  writer  may  pre- 
sent practically  the  same  facts  in  a  style  as 
readable  as  a  book  of  fiction.  This  should  also 
include  appropriateness — often  there  is  intro- 
duced into  a  book  a  class  of  material  that  has 
some  relation  to  the  subject,  but  which  may 


COLLECTING  AND  ARRANGING  89 

not  be  appropriate  to  the  class  of  readers  for 
whom  the  book  is  intended.  There  should  be 
cohesion — logical  order  and  smoothness  in  de- 
velopment. In  the  use  of  quoted  or  adapted 
material  there  are  many  things  to  be  consider- 
ed. Primarily  the  writer  must  himself  thorough- 
ly understand  all  the  definitions  and  points 
brought  out  by  his  authority  in  order  that  he 
may  avoid  ambiguity  or  obscurity  in  his  own 
work.  He  must  also  consider  the  aims,  preju- 
dices and  faults  of  his  authorities;  their  lack 
of  method,  proportion,  etc. ;  their  omissions  and 
lack  of  judgment,  and  further  back  still,  the 
faults  and  omissions  of  the  authorities  to  whom 
they  referred.  This  should  impress  on  writers 
the  point,  in  the  collection  of  material,  of  not- 
ing their  authorities,  and  giving  proper  credit, 
as  treated  on  page  173,  so  that  investigators 
can  trace  important  facts  and  figures  back  to 
their  original  sources. 

The  importance  of  great  care  in  the  use  of 
collated  matter  may  be  judged  from  the  follow- 
ing paragraph,  quoted  from  a  book  review  in 
" Engineering  News." 

"The  preparation  of  text-books  for  schools 
ought  to  be  regarded  as  a  very  serious  business. 
They  plant  seed  in  a  virgin  soil  and  that  seed 
ought  to  be  very  carefully  selected  and  free 
from  tares.  What  the  pupil  learns  from  his 
text-books  is  likely  to  be  tenaciously  held  in 
the  memory  and  difficult  to  uproot.  Their  au- 
thors should,  therefore,  be  particularly  careful 


90  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

that  the  matter  should  be  carefully  selected, 
the  statement  of  facts  and  principles  adequate 
and  accurate,  and,  in  technical  and  industrial 
matters,  the  latest  and  best  accepted  theory 
and  practice  should  be  presented." 

In  the  arranging  and  final  preparation  of  the 
material,  different  methods  are  used  by  dif- 
ferent writers;  every  writer  has  to  find  out  by 
experience  what  method  is  best  suited  to  him 
and  his  class  of  work.  In  general  the  use  of 
index  cards  is  much  to  be  preferred  to  paper 
in  making  up  the  plan  of  the  book.  If  the 
topics  are  recorded  on  index  cards,  they  can 
be  arranged  and  rearranged  as  desired  and 
proportioned  under  headings  and  sub-heads, 
and  sub-sub-heads,  until  a  logical  general 
plan  of  the  work  is  drawn  up,  which  may  later 
be  amplified  as  desired.  The  use  of  cards  in 
this  preliminary  arrangement  is  of  great  assist- 
ance to  the  writer  in  his  later  writing  by  hold- 
ing him  to  the  topic  before  him  and  prevent- 
ing his  flying  off  on  a  tangent  into  other  fields 
of  thought.  He  need  not  fear  forgetting  the 
other  topics,  having  them  permanently  record- 
ed and  arranged;  and  in  case  of  new  ideas 
coming  to  him,  he  can  record  them  on  cards—- 
and forget  them  until  he  reaches  their  proper 
places. 

When  the  material  to  be  used  has  been  se- 
lected, it  may  be  written  out  in  the  form  of 
paragraphs  upon  separate  sheets.  These  sheets 


COLLECTING  AND  ARRANGING  91 

may  then  be  arranged  in  order  according  to 
the  card  record  plan  of  the  book  and  thus  form 
a  skeleton  of  the  text,  which  may  be  amplified 
or  condensed  as  desired  and  finally  edited  for 
the  printer. 

In  regard  to  the  final  writing  of  original  ma- 
terial the  present  writer  has  found  that  instead 
of  trying  to  write  out  at  once  the  matter  in  com- 
plete and  final  form,  it  suits  him  better  to 
write  it  first  in  outline,  by  notes,  jotting  down 
at  random  as  few  words  as  may  be  necessary  to 
describe  an  idea  relating  to  the  particular 
topic  in  hand.  Later  the  words  recall  the 
ideas  and  these  notes  are  expanded  upon  as 
may  be  necessary  to  express  the  ideas  in  full. 
In  making  this  first  complete  draft,  merely  a 
general  connection  of  ideas  is  wanted,  with  lit- 
tle regard  to  the  best  words  or  forms  of  expres- 
sion; no  corrections  are  made  in  the  writing 
and  frequently  an  idea  is  expressed  in  two 
or  even  more  different  ways.  In  this  writing 
each  particular  heading  as  represented  on  a 
card  is  isolated  and  treated  exhaustively  with- 
out any  consideration  of  its  connection  or  re- 
lationship to  other  headings  or  topics,  thus 
preventing  as  far  as  possible  the  distraction  of 
thought  that  must  come  if  connections  or  re- 
lations between  headings  are  thought  of  at  the 
same  time  the  writing  is  done. 

When  this  complete,  and  more  or  less  con- 
nected, draft  has  been  made  (and  written  with 


92  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

wide  spacing)  it  is  followed  by  a  careful  peru- 
sal for  improvement  in  wording  and  expres- 
sion, and  the  draft  thus  improved  as  a  literary 
production,  is  then  "edited"  for  the  printer, 
according  to  the  general  principles  given  in 
Chapter  X. 

One  point  that  must  be  mentioned  in  con- 
clusion is  the  free  use  of  paper.  An  article 
may  be  a  failure  on  account  of  a  false  economy 
in  the  use  of  paper  in  drawing  up  the  incom- 
plete or  the  complete  drafts  of  the  work.  This 
is  false  economy,  first,  because  paper  is  cheap, 
and  secondly,  because  its  consideration  is  al- 
ways of  far  less  importance  than  time,  mental 
labor,  eyesight,  and  satisfactory  results. 

AIDS  TO  LITERARY  WORK 

There  are  many  aids  available  to  the  man 
who  is  literarily  inclined,  which  the  special 
character  of  his  work  will  bring  to  his  atten- 
tion, but  among  the  most  prominent  aids  in 
general  writing  and  speaking  may  be  men- 
tioned the  following: 

Good  memory  (see  page  94). 
Knowledge  of  shorthand: 

The  ability  to  write  shorthand  will  often 
be  found  useful  in  taking  notes  of  ad- 
dresses, lectures,  etc.,  as  well  as  of  ordi- 
nary conversation;  in  aiding  the  memory 
in  many  ways;  in  making  notes  for  refer- 
ence in  speaking,  to  occupy  small  space; 
in  noting  the  points  of  an  adversary's 


COLLECTING  AJtfD  ARRANGING  93 

argument  in  debate,  etc.  The  art  can  be 
readily  mastered  by  any  person  of  fair 
intelligence,  possessed  of  patience  and  per- 
severance and  a  desire  to  learn. 

Pocket  note-book  or  memo  cards. 

Good  book  of  synonyms : 

There  are  many  such  books,  but 
Roget's  "Thesaurus  of  English  Words 
and  Phrases"  is  probably  as  good  a  book 
of  this  kind  as  can  be  had. 

Reference  books  of  quotations  from  standard 
authors. 

Standard  up-to-date  Encyclopedia. 

Unabridged  Dictionary: 

The  "Century"  and  "Standard"  dic- 
tionaries are  the  standards  in  most  pub- 
lishers' offices. 

Text-books  of  Rhetoric,   Grammar,  Punctu- 
ation, etc. 

Reading  of  Classics,  etc.  (for  style). 

Listening    to    lectures,    etc.,    by    prominent 
speakers,  and  taking  notes. 

Making  outlines,  abstracts,  and  summaries  of 
books  and  articles. 

Almanacs,  etc.,  giving  volumes  of  facts. 


IX 


EXERCISING  THE  MEMORY 

On  pages  23  and  92  "memory"  has  been  referred  to 
as  a  prime  essential  to  success  and  as  the  first  of  vari- 
ous aids  in  literary  work.  There  is  no  other  human 
faculty  of  such  importance  to  success  in  any  branch 
of  endeavor  as  memory,  and  this  is  particularly  so 
in  the  work  of  the  engineer,  who  must,  by  the  nature 
of  his  professional  employment,  be  conversant  with 
many  facts,  details,  and  data  on  a  great  variety  of 
topics.  On  account  of  this  importance  of  the  faculty 
of  memory,  the  following  notes  have  been  introduced, 
but  I  do  not  wish  them  to  be  construed  as  a  "sys- 
tem" for  the  cultivation  of  memory.  In  the  limited 
space  of  a  few  pages,  no  "system"  could  be  given, 
even  in  outline, .  to  be  of  value  beyond  that  of  sug- 
gestion. I,  therefore,  make  no  pretensions  for  these 
notes  beyond  their  suggestion  as  an  "exercise"  of 
the  memory.  There  are  several  "systems"  taught, 
by  as  many  different  teachers,  and  they  all  may  be 
worthy  of  study.  I  have  neither  studied  nor  inves- 
tigated any  one  of  them  and  cannot,  either  from  ex- 
perience or  knowledge,  recommend  any  particular 
one,  but  in  general,  would  recommend  the  considera- 
tion, at  least,  of  any  system  that  tends  to  cultivate 
an  assimilative,  or  natural,  memory.  In  these  notes, 
I  have  tried  to  explain  some  principles  on  which 
memory  is  based,  and  to  suggest  a  method  of  using 
these  principles  as  an  exercise,  which,  if  applied  with 
care  to  the  reader's  work  or  study,  will  result  in  an 
almost  immediate  quickening  of  the  very  important 
faculty  of  memory. — H.  F. 

What  is  " Memory "?  It  is  defined  as  "The 
mind's  faculty  for  connecting  its  past  experi- 
ence with  its  present  self"  and  as  "The  faculty 
of  retaining  representations  of  whatever  has 
once  been  in  consciousness."  When  this  fac- 

94 


EXERCISING  THE  MEMORY  95 

ulty  is  exercised  involuntarily,  it  is  "remem- 
brance"; when  occasioned  by  the  exercise  of 
will,  it  is  "recollection."  Without  this  faculty 
the  past  experience  of  the  individual  or  the 
race  would  be  a  blank,  and  all  knowledge 
would  be  limited  to  the  present  moment.  It 
is  the  very  basis  of  knowledge,  and  its  value, 
therefore,  cannot  be  exaggerated ;  neither  can 
its  possibilities  be  overestimated.  It  is  a  fac- 
ulty that  is  as  subject  to  development  by 
proper  exercise  as  is  the  body.  Nothing  can  be 
so  strengthened  by  practice  or  so  weakened  by 
neglect,  and  since  the  most  ancient  times,  de- 
vices and  systems  have  been  invented  both  to 
assist  the  power  of  recollection  and  to  develop 
the  natural  faculty  of  remembrance.  A  perusal 
of  almost  any  one  of  the  popular  magazines  of 
today  will  show  that  various  systems  are  still 
taught  and  that  they  have  been  applied  to  the 
modern  method  of  teaching  by  correspondence. 
Devices  to  assist  recollection  are  known  under 
the  general  name  of  "Mnemonics" — the  art  of 
assisting  recollection  by  methods  of  associa- 
tion. The  common  aim  of  mnemonics  is  to 
associate  the  thing  to  be  remembered  with 
something  which  it  is  thought  can  be  more 
easily  recalled.  The  common  method  of  tying 
a  string  around  a  finger  to  remember  to  buy 
something  or  to  post  a  letter,  is  such  a  device ; 
so  is  the  transferring  of  a  ring  from  a  finger 
on  which  it  is  customarily  worn  to  another 


96  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

finger  unaccustomed  to  the  feeling  of  a  ring, 
on  account  of  which  the  matter  is  constantly 
brought  to  the  mind.  There  are  many  other 
devices  that  are  familiar  to  almost  every  man, 
one  of  the  best  known  being  the  old  "  Thirty 
days  hath  September"  rhyme  for  remembering 
the  number  of  days  in  each  month. 

These  are  very  common  and  elementary 
forms  of  mnemonics,  but  is  it  not  too  often  the 
case  that  even  with  the  simple  device  of  a 
string  on  the  finger,  while  the  attention  is 
later  directed  to  the  device,  the  fact  which  was 
intended  to  be  brought  to  mind  cannot  be  re- 
called? This  shows  the  weakness  of  the  arti- 
ficial method  of  recollection,  and  that  the  de- 
pendence of  the  recollection  upon  the  law  of 
association  only,  is  of  little  practical  utility. 
It  is,  however,  of  some  service  when  certain 
devices  are  regularly  used  in  connection  with 
certain  definite  facts,  but  in  the  use  of  any  of 
these  artificial  or  arbitrary  methods  each  mind 
should  note  what  sort  of  associations  are  most 
facile  to  itself  and  should  use  them  in  its  own 
way.  Notwithstanding,  however,  what  might 
be  said  in  its  favor,  mnemonics  is  not  an  exer- 
cise of  memory  and  it  compels  a  double  duty 
on  the  senses  in  that  the  device  itself  must  be 
recollected  before  the  fact  is  recalled. 

Look  again  at  our  definition  of  "memory" — 
"The  mind's  faculty  for  connecting  its  past 
experience  with  its  present  self. ' '  We  are  said 


EXERCISING  THE  MEMORY  .97 

to  "remember"  a  thing  when  the  idea  arises 
in  the  mind  with  a  consciousness  at  the  same 
time  that  we  have  had  this  idea  before.  Dr. 
Watts,  in  his  essays  on  "The  Improvement  of 
the  Mind, ' '  says :  * '  Our  memory  is  our  natural 
power  of  retaining  what  we  learn,  and  of  re- 
calling it  on  every  occasion.  Therefore  we  can 
never  be  said  to  remember  anything,  whether  it 
be  ideas  or  propositions,  words  or  things,  no- 
tions or  arguments,  of  which  we  have  not  had 
some  former  idea  or  perception,  either  by  sense 
of  imagination,  thought  or  reflection ;  but  what- 
soever we  learn  from  observation,  books,  or 
conversation,  etc.,  must  all  be  laid  up  and  pre- 
served in  the  memory,  if  we  would  make  it 
really  useful. ' '  It  will  be  seen  then  that  mem- 
ory involves  two  periods :  the  past  and  the 
present,  and  that  it  also  involves  a  third  stage 
—"The  mind's  faculty  for  connecting"— "The 
faculty  of  retaining  representations  of  what- 
ever has  been  in  consciousness."  Consider,  for 
example,  your  trip  to  Europe  or  your  visit  to 
a  steel  works.  Your  mind  was  impressed  with 
the  vastness  of  the  ocean,  the  life  of  the  people 
you  met,  the  buildings,  and  the  customs  of  the 
foreign  countries,  etc.,  or  in  the  case  of  the 
steel  works,  with  the  various  exciting  details 
in  the  manufacture  of  steel,  the  fire  from  the 
converters,  the  rolling  of  the  blooms,  the  roar 
of  the  hammers,  etc.  Later  you  want  to  tell 
some  one  of  your  experiences.  You  cannot 


98  ENGINEEBING  LITEBATUEE 

see  the  ocean,  the  people,  or  the  buildings; 
you  cannot  hear  the  roar  of  the  steel  works  or 
feel  the  heat  of  the  furnaces;  yet  you  can 
convey  an  idea  of  these  things  that  have  been 
in  your  experience  in  language,  more  or  less 
clearly,  according  to  the  impressions  they  made 
upon  your  mind  and  your  power  of  reviving 
the  impressions.  The  language  in  which  you 
express  your  thoughts  has  also  something  to  do 
with  your  description,  but  while  this  has  not 
in  itself  any  relation  to  the  incidents  you  are 
describing,  it  does  depend  upon  your  memory 
of  words,  etc.  Memory  consists  of  three  stages : 
first  impression,  preservation  of  the  impres- 
sion, revival  of  the  impression  when  wanted. 
Memory  will  depend  primarily  upon  the  first 
impression,  as  without  that  there  is  nothing  to 
be  preserved  or  revived.  The  common  phrase, 
"It  made  no  impression  on  my  mind,"  will 
have  a  new  meaning  when  seriously  thought  of 
in  connection  with  these  three  stages  of  mem- 
ory. 

A  good  memory  will  (1)  receive  with  ease 
strong  impressions  of  words,  objects,  and 
incidents;  (2)  store  the  impressions  in  great 
quantity  and  variety;  (3)  retain  the  impres- 
sions for  a  considerable  period;  (4)  revive  the 
impressions  strongly  and  promptly  when 
wanted.  At  the  same  time,  a  memory  may  be 
good  as  concerns  first  impressions,  but  poor 
as  concerns  its  power  of  preservation  and  re- 


EXERCISING  THE  MEMORY  9<» 

vival.  Or  vice  versa,  the  power  of  revival 
may  be  strong,  but  the  mind  may  not  readily 
receive  or  preserve  impressions.  This  is  often 
noticeable  in  cases  where  a  student  "crams" 
the  night  before  an  examination  and  forgets 
everything  in  a  few  days  after  the  examina- 
tion. By  thus  forcing  impressions  on  the  mind 
one  idea  effaces  another.  Don't  cram. 

Any  one  or  all  of  the  above  qualifications  of 
a  good  memory  may  be  improved  by  exercise, 
or  injured  by  neglect.  It  is  a  good  exercise 
for  the  revival  of  impressions,  to  take  a  short 
time  daily  and  think  over  something  that  has 
passed — try  to  recall  to  mind  faces,  buildings, 
incidents,  or  the  substance  of  what  has  been 
read.  It  will  be  surprising  how  quickly  this 
simple  exercise,  systematically  practiced,  will 
strengthen  the  powers  of  recollection.  But 
behind  it  all  is  always  the  first  impression.  The 
strengthening  of  that  will,  in  turn,  strengthen 
the  other  faculties.  But  how  can  it  be  strength- 
ened? By  exercise.  The  reader  knows,  as  a 
mere  matter  of  fact,  that  first  impressions  of 
anything  in  which  he  is  really  interested  are 
stronger  than  those  of  anything  in  which  he  is 
not  interested.  Strengthen  impressions,  there- 
fore, by  cultivating  interest — in  everything 
worth  remembering. 

James  Russell  Lowell  says,  in  regard  to  read- 
ing: "The  moment  you  have  a  definite  aim. 
attention  is  quickened,  the  mother  of  memory, 


100  ENGINEEEING  LITEBATUEE 

and  all  that  you  acquire  groups  and  arranges 
itself  in  an  order  that  is  lucid.  *  *  *  also 
forces  on  us  the  necessity  of  thinking,  which, 
after  all,  is  the  highest  result  of  all  education. ' ' 
Those  words  contain  the  true  secret  of  mem- 
ory— aim,  attention,  thinking.  As  all  roads 
lead  to  Home,  so  they  lead  away;  as  interest 
may  be  directed  toward  anything,  so  may  it 
be  diverted,  which  is  mind-wandering.  The 
opposite  of  mind-wandering  is  attention — the 
steady  application  of  the  mind.  It  is  a  direc- 
tion of  the  intellect  by  the  will,  actuated  by 
an  aim. 

But  you  may  want  to  learn  a  certain  fact,  a 
formula,  a  telephone  number,  a  definition,  or 
a  man's  name.  You  have  an  aim  in  learning 
it.  You  repeat  it  a  dozen  times  or  more — and 
forget  it  in  less  than  twenty-four  hours.  Why  ? 
By  trying  to  learn  it  by  a  wrong  method,  by 
rote,  mere  repetition,  "in  one  ear  and  out  of 
the  other."  You  may  have  tried  hard  to  re- 
member and  given  it  due  diligence,  but  what 
was  lacking  was  thought — reasoning.  Nothing 
cultivates  mind-wandering  so  much  as  repeti- 
tion, or  reading  without  thinking.  Thinking, 
as  Lowell  says,  "the  highest  result  of  all  educa- 
tion," is  the  basis  of  memory.  By  thinking, 
we  deduce  inferences  from  facts  or  proposi- 
tions; by  thinking,  we  find  resemblances  to, 
and  relations  between  objects.  We  are  told 
that  one  building  is  fifty  feet  higher  than  an- 


EXERCISING  THE  MEMORY  101 

other,  and  we  realize  the  relative  proportions 
by  an  unconscious  process  of  reasoning — com- 
parison. We  often  say  of  a  person:  "He  re- 
minds me  of  a  friend" — a  case  of  similarity 
involving  thought.  These  and  many  other  mat- 
ters of  every-day  occurrence,  in  which  we  are 
aware  of  no  special  process  of  reasoning,  are 
in  fact,  based  on  the  faculty  of  thinking. 

To  think  intelligently  and  systematically,  it 
is  necessary  to  know  something  of  the  under- 
lying laws  of  thinking.  To  go  into  this  in 
detail  would  necessitate  an  essay  on  "Reason," 
but  as  the  present  purpose  is  merely  to  sug- 
gest an  exercise,  we  may  say  that  the  general 
principles  of  thought  are  much  the  same  as 
those  of  "figures  of  thought,"  mentioned  on 
page  24,  in  connection  with  rhetoric :  Simi- 
larity, Dissimilarity,  and  Association.  We  may 
go  still  further,  and  under  these  heads,  classify 
the  various  figures  of  speech  and  thought,  and 
apply  them  to  the  art  of  thinking,  or  of  finding 
relations  between  objects. 

1.  The  principle  of  Similarity : 

Alliteration — a   relationship   of  sight, 

as 
"Tongues  in  trees,  books  in  babbling 

brooks,  and  sermons  in  stones." 
Paronomasia — a  relationship  of  sound, 

as,  telegraph — telephone. 
Simile — an  expressed  comparison,  as, 

The  brotherhood  of  the  profession. 

2.  The  principle  of  Dissimilarity : 


^m^»*> 
UNIVERSITY 


102  ENGINEEEING  LITERATUEE 

Contrast  and  Antithesis — implying  op 

position,  as,  high — low;  new — old. 
Under  1  and  2  combined  is  Synecdoche : 
Concrete   and   abstract — similar   qual- 
ity in  adjective  and  noun,  as,  con- 
crete— strong ;  rubber — elastic. 
Genus  and  species — an  individual  of  a 
general  class,  as,  tree — pine;  animal 
—dog. 
3.     The  principle  of  Association : 

Cause  and  effect — lightning — thunder. 
Container  and  the  thing  contained,  or 
whole   and   part,   as,   Locomotive- 
boiler. 
Sign  and  the  thing  signified — crown — 

monarchy. 
Author     and     his     works — Gillett — 

Hand-book  of  Cost  Data. 
How  can  these  principles  be  applied  to  our 
daily  work?  Their  understanding  will  give  us 
a  basis  of  thought,  of  finding  relations  between 
things  unknown  that  we  wish  to  learn  and  re- 
member, and  things  already  known.  It  wrill 
enable  us  to  proceed  intelligently  from  the 
known  to  the  unknown,  and  to  fix  that  in 
memory;  to  retain  what  has  been  mastered 
before  advancing  to  something  new.  By 
thoughtful  application  of  these  principles,  they 
will  gradually  become  assimilated  with  the 
very  acts  of  reading,  conversing,  and  doing, 
until  they  are  unconsciously  applied  to  every- 
thing we  do.  By  a  slight  reflection,  almost 
every  one  will  find  that  these  principles  are 


EXERCISING  THE  MEMORY  103 

already  unconsciously  applied — we  remember 
many  things  by  their  relations  to  other  and 
better  known  things.  But  as  an  example,  in  a 
simple  form,  read  over  the  following  words, 
starting  and  ending  with  the  one  now  in  the 
mind — memory : 

Memory,  emery,  rough,  ocean,  steamship, 
Mauretania,  large,  small,  village,  London,  Bank 
of  England,  savings,  economics.  Wellington, 
Napoleon,  finance,  railroad,  canal,  tow,  propel, 
power,  official,  Washington,  father,  son,  bright, 
learning,  memory. 

Without  any  special  consideration  of  this 
list  of  words,  it  would  require  considerable 
repetition  before  they  could  be  repeated  freely 
and  quickly,  forward  or  backward.  But  it  will 
be  found,  when  the  words  have  been  repeated, 
even  once,  with  thought  of  the  relationship  ex- 
isting between  them,  that  they  can  be  recalled 
with  little  effort.  For  instance,  read  them  over 
in  this  way: 

memory 

similarity  of  sound 
emery 

concrete    and    abstract;    em- 
ery is  usually  rough 

rough 

association,  as  the  ocean  is 
often  rough 

ocean 

association 


104 


ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 


steamship 
Mauretania 

large 
small 
village 

London 

Bank  of  England 

saving 
economics 

Wellington 
Napoleon 


genus  and  species;  there  are 
many  steamships  of  which 
this  is  an  individual 


concrete  and  abstract,  as 
everyone  knows  that  the 
Mauretania  is  large 


antithesis 

concrete  and  abstract 

contrast — a  village  is  small 
but  London  is  a  large  city 


whole  and  part,  as  the  Bank 
is  in  London 


cause  and  effect;  the  bank 
is  both  the  cause  the  the 
result  of  saving 


cause  and  effect;   saving  is 
the  effect  of  economy 


author  and  his  work;  Wel- 
lington's book  on  "Eco- 
nomic Location  of  Rail- 
ways" is  generally  known 
merely  as  "Wellington" 


association 


association;  a  man  is  some- 
times spoken  of  as  a  "Na- 
poleon of  finance" 


EXEECISING  THE  MEMORY 


105 


finance 

railroad 
canal 

tow 

propel 
power 

official 

"Washington 

father 
son 

bright 


association;  railroads  re- 
quire financing  and  the 
terms  are  often  used  to- 
gether 


contrast 


association,    as    canal    boats 
are  towed 


antithesis;  towing  and  pro- 
pelling are  the  two  ex- 
tremes 


association;  it  requires  pow- 
er to  propel  a  thing 


sign  and  thing  signified;  an 
official  is  the  representa- 
tive of  power. 


association  between  the  offi- 
cials and  the  capital  of 
the  country 


simile;    "The   father   of  his 
country" 


antithesis 


concrete  and  abstract;  the 
relationship  formed  by  an 
implied,  but  not  express- 
ed, relationship  of  sound 
between  son  and  sun 


106  ENGINEEKING  LITERATURE 

concrete     and     abstract;     a 
person   who   has   learning 
is  considered  bright 
learning 

cause  and  effect;  learning  is 
a  natural  result  of  mem- 
ory 

memory 

It  will  now  be  found  that,  without  any  fur- 
ther resort  to  the  list,  these  words  have  so 
impressed  themselves  on  the  mind  through 
their  relationships,  that  they  can  be  repeated 
backward  almost  as  easily  and  quickly  as  for- 
ward. The  words  of  this  list  were  selected  in 
order  to  illustrate  the  relationships  described, 
but  the  principle  may  be  extended  by  practice 
to  phrases,  sentences,  paragraphs,  and  chap- 
ters, in  reading,  so  that  a  logical  sequence  may 
easily  be  kept  in  mind;  and  in  speaking,  so 
that  little  or  no  recourse  need  be  had  to  notes. 
If  the  matter  has  been  logically  arranged,  these 
divisions  can  be  reduced  to  keywords  which 
may  be  linked  together  by  a  chain  of  related 
words. 

A  list  of  words,  or  subjects,  or  thoughts,  that 
are  unrelated,  may  be  thus  connected  by  a 
chain  of  related  words,  as  for  instance,  the 
following  order  of  a  classification  of  engineer- 
ing subjects: 

Natural  Sciences — science  and  art — Arts — 
Industrial   Arts — fine    arts — mine    (relation- 
ship of  sound  with  fine) — Mining — 


EXERCISING  THE  MEMORY  107 

Mining    and    Metallurgy — minerals — iron — 

steel — Strength- 
Strength  of  Materials — Drawing  Materials- 
Drawing  and  Machine  Design — design — plan 

— building — Wood — 
Timber  and  Wood  Working— Working- 
Metals  and  Metal  Working— manufacturing 

-Mill- 
Mills,  Factories,  Shops— Heating  of  shops- 
Heat  and  Fuels — fire — boiler — Steam- 
Steam  Engineering — engine — Power- 
Power  Transmission — transmission  of  Elec- 
tricity- 
Electrical  Engineering — electric  Railways— 
Railway    Machinery    and    Equipment — sup- 
plies— for  steamship — Marine- 
Marine  and  Naval  Engineering — warfare- 
Aerial  warfare- 
Aerial    Transportation  —  transportation    of 

troops — Military- 
Military     Engineering — army — navy — water 

— Hydraulic- 
Hydraulic   Engineering — water   supply — for 

towns — Municipality- 
Municipal  and  Sanitary  Engineering — sani- 
tation of  buildings — Structures- 
Structural   Engineering — erection — design- 
Architect— 

Architecture  and  Fine  Arts — paintings,  stat- 
uary and  Miscellaneous  works  of  art — 


108  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

Technical  Miscellany— odds  and  ends— con- 
trivances— Inventions- 
Inventions,  Patents,  Law — professional  work 

—Medicine- 
Medicine  and  Surgery — the  body — the  mind 

—Philosophy — etc.,  etc. 
This  chain  method  of  assisting  the  memory 
will  find  a  parallel  in  the  [repetition  of  a 
poem,  for  example.  No  matter  how  well  one 
may  know  a  poem,  if  asked  to  repeat  the  third 
verse,  he  would  hesitate,  but  if  he  repeated 
the  poem  from  its  commencement,  there  would 
be  no  hesitation.  It  is  merely  the  advancement 
from  the  known  to  the  unknown,  the  sugges- 
tive power  of  what  is  in  the  mind  to  what  im- 
mediately follows  it,  the  mutual  dependence 
of  things  on  each  other. 

In  regard  to  numbers,  dates,  and  other  facts 
involving  the  remembrance  of  figures,  the  prin- 
ciples of  relations  may  also  be  applied,  but  in 
a  little  different  form.  This  may  be  illustrated 
by  taking,  for  instance,  the  figures  of  the  re- 
cently completed  census.  The  population  of 
the  United  States  and  its  territorial  possessions 
is  given  (1910)  as  93,346,543.  How  may  we  fix 
this  number  in  our  minds?  The  following 
might  be  the  general  order  of  reasoning : 

1.  "We  know  that  it  is  in  millions  and  some- 
what less  than  the  complete  hundred  million. 
Therefore  there  are  eight  figures  in  the  num- 
ber. Divide  these  into  three  divisions  repre- 


EXERCISING  THE  MEMORY  109 

senting  the  hundreds,  thousands  and  millions, 
as  93|346|543,  and  look  for  relations  between 
the  divisions,  first. 

2.  We  see  that  there  are  three  3's,  one  in 
each  division.    It  is  also  seen  that  the  sums  of 
the  figures  in  the  different  divisions  are  12,  13, 
12.     Taking  the  first  division;  there  are  two 
figures  only,  one  of  which  is  3,  and  the  sum  is 
12,  therefore  the  other  must  be  9.    This  places 
the  millions  at  93.     Then  taking  the  third  di- 
vision, which  has  the  same  total,  12,  we  see 
that  it,  just  as  the  first  division,  ends  with  its 
3.    The  other  two  figures  add  to  9  and  may  be 
90,  81,  72,  54,  or  the  same  numbers  reversed. 
It  is  54,  a  combination  which  makes  with  the 
last  figure,  a  sequence  reading  from  right  to 
left,  the  right  end  being  the  known  figure. 

3.  Now,  consider  the  thousands  division  and 
note  its  relations  to  the  others.     The  sum  of 
the  figures  is  13,  one  of  which  is  3,  leaving  a 
possible  combination  of  the  others  in  order  to 
make  10,  of  91,  82,  64,  or  55,  or  any  of  them 
reversed.    Compare  this  division  with  the  hun- 
dreds ;  one  commences  with  the  3  and  the  other 
ends  with  the  3 ;  carry  on  the  sequence  of  the 
last  division  and  we  get  6  for  the  last  figure 
of  the  second  division,  and  the  middle  figure, 
therefore,  must  be  4,  which  is  also  the  middle 
figure  of  the  last  division.     Again,  comparing 
the  first  and  the  second  divisions,  we  see  that 
the  two  3's  come  together,  also  that  the  sum 
of  the  first  and  last  figures  of  the  second  divi- 
sion equals  the  other  figure  of  the  first  division. 

This  reasoning  is  given  here  in  detail,  but 
with  a  little  practice  the  powers  of  observation 
are  so  quickened  that  the  relationships  are  al- 


110  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

most  instantly  seen  and  in  taking  up  any  set 
of  figures,  the  mind  will  instinctively  look  for 
them,  and  fix  them  in  memory.  The  number  is 
then  remembered  not  as  so  many  arbitrary 
figures,  but  as  a  lucid  grouping,  and  in  future 
revival  of  the  impression,  any  one  figure  will 
recall  all  the  others  in  their  proper  order,  one 
after  another,  until  the  group  is  complete.  It 
will  surprise  one  who  has  not  thus  thought  of 
numbers,  to  observe  how  relations  may  be  es- 
tablished between  the  figures  of  almost  any 
given  number  of  four  or  more  figures. 

Consider,  for  instance,  the  populations  of  the 
three  American  cities  having  over  one  million 
inhabitants — New  York,  Chicago  and  Philadel- 
phia: 

New  York— 4,766,883.  Note  the  arrange- 
ment of  double  6  's  and  8  's — the  sum  of  the  first 
and  last  figures  equals  the  second  figure — the 
second  and  third  divisions  each  total  19. 

Chicago — 2,185,283.  Note  the  arrangement 
of  the  1,  2,  3 — the  difference  between  the  first 
and  last  figures  of  the  third  division  equals  the 
first  figure  of  the  second  division,  and  the  sum 
of  the  same  figures  equals  the  last  figure  of 
the  second  division — and  the  middle  figures  of 
these  two  divisions  are  the  same. 

Philadelphia— 1,549,008.  Note  the  relation- 
ship of  the  9's — first  and  last  figures  equal  9 — 
first  and  second  of  the  second  division  equal  9, 
which  is  the  other  figure  of  this  division — and 
total  of  all  figures  equals  27,  9  times  the  num- 
ber of  divisions. 


EXERCISING  THE  MEMORY  111 

Other  relations  will  easily  be  found,  but  this 
will  be  sufficient  to  indicate  the  character  of 
the  relations  that  exist  between  figures,  the 
observation  of  wrhich  will  assist  in  the  study 
of  even  the  most  mathematical  works. 

This  underlying  principle  of  the  mutual  de- 
pendence of  things  on  each  other,  and  ob- 
servation of  the  most  prominent  features,  will 
assist  in  the  recollection  of  a  man's  name  from 
his  style  of  dress,  his  size,  appearance,  office 
or  employment;  the  name  of  an  author  from 
association  with  the  title  or  character  of  his 
books;  a  date  from  association  with  something 
connected  with  the  incident,  etc.  The  associ- 
ation of  ideas  is  of  great  importance  and  its 
practice  will  make  it  of  valuable  assistance  in 
learning  anything,  but  it  does  not  do  away 
entirely  with  the  necessity  of  making  written 
memoranda.  Use  these  to  save  the  exercise 
of  the  mind  on  the  non-essentials,  and  back 
them  up  with  the  brain's  record  of  the  un- 
changeable essentials — first  making  sure  that 
these  essentials  and  the  relations  between  them 
are  thoroughly  understood,  and  are  not  stored 
away  as  a  heap  of  facts  without  connection  or 
order. 


PREPARATION  OF  MANUSCRIPTS 
FOR  PUBLICATION 

The  vast  quantity  of  new  material  on  tech- 
nical subjects  constantly  appearing  in  the  form 
of  books  and  periodical  articles  is  evidence 
of  a  growing  tendency  on  the  part  of  engineers 
toward  literary  work.  Yet  it  is  a  fact  that  not 
one-half  of  the  manuscripts  submitted  to  pub- 
lishers are  accepted  and  published,  and  it  may 
also  be  noted  that  a  very  considerable  portion  of 
these  offerings  are  the  first  efforts  of  their  writ- 
ers in  this  particular  form  of  composition. 
Some  manuscripts  show  that  much  time  and 
pains  have  been  taken  in  their  preparation,  but 
a  lack  of  acquaintance  on  the  part  of  their 
writers  with  the  elementary  details  of  the  pub- 
lishing business  renders  these  efforts  ineffect- 
ual, and  results  either  in  the  rejection  of  the 
manuscript  or  in  the  necessity  of  editorial  revi- 
sion and  a  consequent  delay  in  its  publication. 
On  the  other  hand,  some  of  these  manuscripts 
are  little  more  than  hastily-written  texts  care- 
lessly thrown  together,  with  a  bundle  of  crude 
drawings,  which  certainly  does  not  complete 
the  initial  stages  of  a  book,  nor  form  a  welcome 
112 


PREFAB ATION   OF   MANUSCRIPTS         113 

contribution,  from  the  publisher's  point  of 
view. 

These  facts  show  the  desirability  of  an  ex- 
planation of  some  of  the  principles  that  should 
govern  authors  in  the  preparation  of  their  manu- 
scripts in  order  that  they  may  gain  literary 
recognition  and  that  the  profession  may  benefit 
by  the  information  they  convey.  Before  a 
manuscript  is  turned  over  to  the  printer  it 
must  have  a  title  page,  a  table  of  contents  or 
chapter  heads,  a  copyright  entry,  a  preface  or 
an  introduction,  or  both,  and  a  list  of  illustra- 
tions, if  they  are  of  sufficient  importance  to 
warrant  it.  It  must  be  standardized  as  to  typo- 
graphical style,  punctuation,  capitalization,  and 
orthography;  paragraphs  and  other  divisions, 
italicized  words,  and  positions  and  titles  for 
illustrations  must  be  clearly  indicated ;  chapter- 
titles,  sub-heads,  section  or  paragraph  topics, 
head-lines  or  ''box  heads,"  etc.,  must  be  in- 
serted, and  last,  but  by  no  means  least,  after 
the  book  is  in  type  and  made  up  into  pages, 
a  full  and  intelligently-made  index  must  be 
provided. 

This  work  is  known  as  "editing  the  manu- 
script." Besides  these  details  it  involves 
many  others  which  necessitate  a  considerable 
knowledge  of  the  technicalities  of  typography. 
It  consists  essentially  of  preparing  the  manu- 
script for  the  printer,  that  is,  in  preparing  the 
"printer's  copy,"  in  which  nothing  must  be 


114  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

left  to  conjecture.  The  printer  is  expected  to 
follow  copy  exactly,  practically  his  only  free- 
dom of  deviation  being  the  correction  of  an 
obvious  error  in  spelling,  in  the  omission  of 
a  duplicated  word,  which  has  been  accidentally 
left  uncancelled,  etc.,  and  in  the  questioning 
of  a  wording  or  grammatical  construction — the 
query  to  be  answered  by  the  author  in  the 
proof  corrections. 

Some  publishing  houses  have  their  own  estab- 
lished styles  of  typography  and  systems  of 
orthography,  etc.,  on  which  they  insist,  in  order 
to  obtain  uniformity  in  all  their  publications, 
and  in  such  cases,  final  "editing"  is  always 
done  by  the  publisher.  For  instance,  an  author 
might  write,  "50-ft.  span,"  where  the  pub- 
lisher's rule  is  "50-foot  span,"  or  the  policy 
may  be  to  print  proper  names  referred  to  in 
the  body  of  an  article  in  small  capitals, 
which  would  mean  a  double  ruling  under  the 
name  in  the  manuscript,  for  the  guidance  of 
the  printer.  This  editing  to  conform  with  his 
established  policy  is  a  matter  that  the  publisher 
expects  and  more  or  less  of  it  must  be  done 
with  every  manuscript  published  by  him  be- 
fore it  is  given  to  the  printer.  But  the  larger 
matters,  correct  spelling,  the  indicating  of 
paragraphs,  punctuation,  etc.,  are  not  the  duty 
of  the  publisher  and  they  should  be  done  by 
the  author.  Such  editing  is  costly  labor  and 
where  there  is  a  large  amount  of  it  done 


PREPARATION    OF    MANUSCRIPTS  115 

by  the  publisher  at  the  request  of  the  author, 
the  cost  must  be  eventually  borne  by  the 
author,  either  directly  by  a  cash  payment 
for  the  time  consumed,  or  indirectly,  through 
the  methods  of  payment  of  royalties.  This  ex- 
pense, and  the  incident  delays,  correspondence, 
and  misunderstandings  can  often  be  avoided 
if  the  author  edits  his  own  manuscript  after 
the  completion  of  the  creative  work  of  the 
text,  Sufficient  has  already  been  said  regard- 
ing the  importance  of  punctuation,  spelling, 
and  grammatical  construction,  so  that  the  fol- 
lowing paragraphs  may  be  devoted  principally 
to  giving  a  number  of  the  more  important 
principles  involved  in  the  preparation  of  the 
material  for  publication  in  book  form,  and  tak- 
ing into  account  the  special  class  of  readers 
for  whom  this  information  is  intended,  atten- 
tion will  be  more  especially  directed  towards 
compositions  on  technical  subjects. 

GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  OF  WRITING  FOR 
PUBLICATION 

In  preparing  a  manuscript  for  publication, 
care  should  be  taken— 

To  put  the  name  of  the  writer  on  the  first 
sheet. 

To  use  paper  of  uniform  size. 

To  number  each  sheet  consecutively. 

To  write  on  one  side  of  the  paper  only,  and 
across  the  narrow  dimension  of  the  sheet. 

To  allow  a  margin  at  the  left-hand  side  of 
the  sheet. 


116  ENGINEEKING  LITEKATUKE 

To  write  plainly  with  black  ink  or  to  use 
typewriting. 

To  space  the  writing  for  easy  reading  and 
editing. 

To  make  everything1  understandable  to  all 
who  are  to  handle  the  manuscript — publisher, 
compositor,  proofreader  and  yourself. 

As  the  manuscript  will  pass  through  many 
hands  before  the  final  proofs  are  corrected,  it 
is  well  to  select  a  paper  of  tough  texture. 
White  paper  is  always  in  place,  but  tinted 
papers — yellow,  orange,  or  other  light  shades — 
are  preferable,  as  they  are  better  for  the  eyes 
of  editors,  compositors,  proofreaders  and 
others  who  will  work  over  the  sheets.  A  de- 
sirable size  is  81/2x11  inches — the  ordinary  busi- 
ness letter-head  size.  A  margin  of  1%  inches 
should  be  allowed  at  the  left-hand  side  of  the 
sheet,  %-in.  at  the  top,  and  i/2-in-  at  the  bottom 
of  the  sheet.  The  sheets  should  be  numbered 
consecutively*  in  the  upper  right-hand  corner, 
and  the  author's  name,  or  an  abbreviated  title 
of  the  book  may  be  written  on  the  upper  left- 
hand  corner — but  this  is  not  an  essential. 
Should  it  be  found  necessary,  after  writing  a 
part  of  the  work,  to  insert  any  considerable 
amount  of  additional  matter,  this  matter  should 
be  written  on  separate  sheets  and  given  the 
same  page  number  as  the  sheet  it  supplements, 


*  Some  writers  and  publishers  prefer  the  numbering 
of  individual  chapters  separately,  in  which  case  every 
chapter  should  have  a  key  letter,  appended  to  each 
sheet  of  that  chapter  (as,  Ix,  2x,  etc.)  to  prevent  the 
sheets  of  different  chapters  from  becoming-  mixed. 


PREPARATION   OF   MANUSCRIPTS          117 

with  an  index  letter,  as  27A,  27B,  etc.  These 
sheets  should  be  marked:  "Insert  at  'A'  page 
27, "  etc.,  and  the  position  of  "A",  "B",  etc., 
should  be  indicated  on  the  original  sheet.  If 
a  complete  page,  or  series  of  pages,  is  taken 
out,  the  page  or  pages  should  be  accounted  for 
by  marking  either  the  preceding  sheet  only,  or 
both  the  preceding  and  the  following  sheets. 
Thus,  if  page  18  was  cancelled,  page  17  should 
be  marked  "17-18",  and  the  following  page 
would  be  marked  19 ;  but  if  a  number  of  pages 
as  18  to  26,  inclusive,  were  cancelled,  page  17 
should  be  marked  "17-26"  and  page  27  should 
be  marked  "18-27." 

When  the  manuscript  is  handwritten,  black 
ink  should  be  used — never  use  pale  ink.  It 
should,  however,  be  typewritten,  if  at  all  pos- 
sible— on  one  side  of  the  sheet  only.  The  cost 
of  typewriting  is  usually  about  ten  cents  per 
page  (8%xll  ins.)  containing  approximately 
300  words,  or  only  about  $30  for  a  300-page 
octavo  book,  allowing  25  per  cent,  of  the 
space  for  illustrations.  It  pays  to  go  to  this 
expense.  In  this  form  the  writer  is  better 
able  to  revise  and  perfect  his  manuscript,  in- 
cluding its  arrangement  into  sentences,  chap- 
ters, and  parts ;  to  indicate  plainly  the  number 
and  position  of  illustrations;  and  generally  to 
present  his  material  in  such  form  as  will  reduce 
mistakes  in  typesetting  and  save  time  and  ex- 
pense in  revising  and  correcting  proofs.  It 


118  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

must  be  understood  also  that  publishers,  on  re- 
ceipt of  a  manuscript,  refer  it  to  one  or  more 
readers  who  are  qualified  by  special  knowledge 
of  the  subject  treated,  to  render  intelligent 
opinions  as  -to  the  advisability  of  publication, 
and  upon  these  appraisements,  the  destiny  of 
the  manuscript,  so  far  as  the  house  considering 
them  is  concerned,  largely  depends.  It  is,  there- 
fore, of  great  importance  that  all  possible  be 
done  by  the  author  to  present  his  work  in  the 
most  favorable  light,  as  a  carelessly  prepared 
manuscript,  though  good  in  material,  often  re- 
pels by  its  very  appearance.  Typewritten  mat- 
ter possesses  nearly  all  the  advantages  of  a 
printed  page,  and  can  be  read  with  a  continuity 
of  attention  that  is  impossible  to  give  to  a 
manuscript  in  handwriting,  however  excellent 
the  latter  may  be.  And  as  it  is  this  very  un- 
interruptedness  of  consideration  that  is  re- 
quired for  properly  estimating  the  value  of  a 
text,  anything  that  will  tend  to  secure  it,  is 
highly  advisable. 

Nothing  should  be  left  to  conjecture.  Any 
part  of  the  original  manuscript  that  is  heavily 
interlined  should  be  rewritten,  and  in  case  of 
minor  interlineations,  care  should  be  taken  to 
insert  them  in  their  proper  places  in  the  body 
of  the  text,  and  not  in  the  margin,  as  in  the 
correction  of  proofs.  It  should  always  be  re- 
membered that  original  manuscripts  are  not  to 


EDITING  MANUSCRIPT  119 

be  corrected  with  the  marks  used  in  correction 
of  proofs,  as  given  further  on. 

The  sheets  should  not  be  fastened  together 
with  pins ;  if  it  is  desired  to  fasten  them  at  all, 
easily  removable  clips  may  bs  used,  and  the 
sheets  of  each  chapter  fastened  together  sepa- 
rately. 

Finally,  in  sending  the  manuscript  to  the 
publisher,  the  sheets  should  not  be  rolled  or 
folded.  Ship  them  flat,  with  some  stiff  support, 
such  as  cardboard,  in  the  package.  Rolled 
packages  are  always  difficult  to  open  and  it 
is  almost  impossible  to  make  sheets  lie  flat 
after  having  been  tightly  rolled,  and  they  are 
a  nuisance  to  everybody  who  handles  them.  A 
small  contribution  to  a  periodical,  consisting  of 
two  to  ten  pages  only,  might  be  folded  once — 
but  not  rolled. 

EDITING  MANUSCRIPT  FOR  PRINTER 
These  general  principles  might  be  supple- 
mented by  some  more  specific  directions  for 
the  preparing  of  "printer's  copy"  after  the 
original  work  of  writing  the  manuscript  has 
been  completed.  It  has  already  been  said  not 
to  correct  the  manuscript  as  a  proof.  "Cor- 
recting" and  "Editing"  are  different.  Editing 
consists  in  the  final  preparation  for  the  printer 
and  it  is  important  that  this  is  properly  done. 
One  of  the  most  costly  items  in  bookmaking 
and  one  that  seriously  affects  the  profits,  is 


120  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

that  charged  to  "Author's  Alterations," 
which  are  due  mainly  to  improper  or  careless 
editing  by  the  authors.  It  is  the  custom  of  all 
publishers  to  apportion  the  cost  of  corrections 
in  the  proof  between  themselves  and  the 
author.  This  must  be  done  to  protect  them- 
selves from  the  excessive  alterations  made  by 
some  authors  when  they  see  their  compositions 
in  type,  which  would  amount,  in  many  cases, 
to  the  resetting  of  practically  a  whole  chapter, 
or  even  of  the  entire  work.  This  apportion- 
ment is  made  by  a  provision  in  the  contract  as, 
for  instance : 

Any  alterations  made  by  the  author  after 
the  work  is  in  type,  which  exceed  ten  (10) 
per  cent,  of  the  cost  of  composition,  shall 
be  at  the  expense  of  the  author. 

The  cost  of  correcting  errors  of  composition 
is  never  charged  to  the  author;  the  compos- 
itor is  responsible  for  these  and  corrects  them 
at  his  own  expense.  But  it  will  be  found  that, 
unless  a  writer  has  had  some  of  this  costly  ex- 
perience, the  expense  of  alterations  made  by 
himself  will  accumulate  faster  than  he  expects. 
This  work  is  not  charged  for  at  the  same  rate 
as  the  original  composition,  but  at  a  rate  per 
hour  for  the  time  used  in  setting  up  the  new 
material  as  well  as  in  resetting  old  material 
made  necessary  by  the  alterations.  To  keep 
down  this  expense,  the  author  should  give  at- 
tention to  every  detail  and  make  his  manu- 


PEEPARATION  OF  MANUSCRIPTS  121 

script  as  nearly  perfect  as  possible  before  it 
goes  to  the  printer. 

Author's  alterations  made  in  "galley- 
proof"^  involve  resetting  one  or  more  lines 
only;  in  the  "page-proof,"*  they  involve  the 
same,  plus  the  probable  re-make-up  of  one  or 
more  pages;  in  the  " plate-proof, ":f:  they  in- 
volve a  cutting  of  the  plate  and  insertion  of  the 
correction,  with  the  consequent  weakening  of 
the  plate,  and  often  imperfect  alignment  in  the 
printing,  or  it  may  involve  the  making  of  an 
entire  new  plate.  These  corrections  can  be 
made,  but  they  should  not  be  made,  and  almost 
invariably  they  lead  to  trouble. 

To  avoid  author's  corrections  and  obtain  the 
best  results  from  the  printer,  observe  the  fol- 
lowing directions : 

1.  Writing.  Write  legibly.  It  avoids  am- 
biguity and  saves  time  of  editor,  compositor 
and  proofreader.  See  that  similarly  written 
letters  are  not  confounded.  Be  careful  in  writ- 
ing "n"  and  "u",  "a"  and  "o",  "r"  and 
"v",  "m"  and  "w",  and  in  the  capitals  "I" 
and  "J" — the  "I"  is  entirely  above  the  line 
while  the  "  J"  extends  half  its  length  below  it. 
When  "1"  and  "t"  come  together,  cross  only 
the  "t".  Proper  names  should  be  printed  to 
avoid  incorrect  spelling.  Where  mathematical 
expressions  are  employed  they  should  be  neatly 

*  The  distinction  between  the  various  proofs  is  ex- 
plained on  page  277. 


122  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

and  correctly  printed  with  a  pen,  which  applies 
also  to  manuscripts  in  typewriting.  Inferior 
and  superior  characters  (exponents,  subscripts, 
etc.)  should  be  indicated  in  their  proper  posi- 
tions and  relative  sizes.  Confusion  often  arises 
from  mistaking  a  hastily- written  "1"  for  the 
minute  sign  ('),  when  used  as  a  superior  or 
inferior,  and  hurridly  dashed  off  letters  such  as 
"1"  and  "I"  occasion  vexatious  delays  and  the 
re-reading  of  previous  matter  in  order  to  find 
out  whether  they  are  or  are  not  "7,"  or  "1." 

2.  Cancellations.    In   the   re-reading   of    a 
manuscript,  cancel  any  illegible  word  by  draw- 
ing a  stroke  through  it  or  a  letter  by  draw- 
ing   a    downward    oblique    line    through    it, 
and  rewrite  the  word  or  letter  directly  above 
the  cancellation,  inserting  a  caret  where  the 
word  is  to  be  inserted,   or  if  there  are   sev- 
eral words,  indicate  their  position  for  inser- 
tion by  a  curved  line — do  not  leave  a  word  iso- 
lated among  a  lot  of  cancellations.     If,  after 
cancellation,  you  wish  to  restore  a  passage  or 
word,  underline  it  with  a  dotted  line,  and  in 
the  margin  write  stet,  meaning  "let  it  stand." 
Cancellations  should  be  distinct — sacrifice  neat- 
ness for  legibility — make  the  compositor  under- 
stand it,  but  be  sure  that  you  show  clearly 
where  the  cancellation  begins  and  ends. 

3.  Transpositions,     If  you  wish  to  change 
the   positions    of   two    adjoining   words,    con- 
nect them  with  a  curved  line  partly  encircling 


EDITING  MANUSCRIPT  123 

the  words,  and  in  the  margin  write  "tr" 
(transpose),  or  you  can  effect  the  same  thing 
by  writing  above  the  words,  1  and  2,  to 
indicate  their  proper  order.  Whole  passages 
may  be  handled  in  the  same  general  way. 

4.  Capitals  and  Type  Variations. — Com- 
mence every  sentence  with  a  capital.  If 
you  wish  to  capitalize  a  small  letter,  draw 
three  short  lines  under  it.  "Where  a  sentence 
has  been  broken  to  form  a  new  sentence,  in- 
stead of  rewriting  the  first  letter  of  the  new 
sentence  with  a  capital,  it  can  be  capitalized 
by  this  underlining.  Two  lines  under  a  word 
indicates  SMALL  CAPS  ;  three  lines,  FULL  CAPS. 
One  underlining  indicates  italics.*  If  a  capita] 
is  to  be  changed  to  a  small  letter,  cancel  the 
capital,  and  in  the  margin  write  "1.  c."  (lower 
case).  Italic  capitals  are  indicated  by  four 
lines,  or  by  the  three  lines  and  "itals."  written 
in  the  margin.  (It  is  to  be  noted  that  marginal 
notes  are  to  be  made  opposite  the  word  to 
which  they  refer.)  Care  should  be  taken  in 
the  proper  use  of  capitals  in  names  of  per- 
sons and  places,  and  in  technical  terms,  where 
necessary.  Formulas  are  almost  always  set  in 
italics,  and  it  is  not  ordinarily  necessary  to 
indicate  this  otherwise  than  by  the  character 
of  the  handwriting  employed.  But  it  insures 
a  thorough  understanding  of  this  and  also  when 

*  In  ordinary  body  matter  use  as  few  italics  as  pos- 
sible, as  many  printers  do  not  have  machines  equipped 
to  set  italics  with  other  type  and  its  insertion  by 
hand  is  expensive. 


124  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

isolated  letters  referring  to  such  expressions 
occur  in  the  body  of  the  text,  if  they  are  un- 
derscored. A  wavy  line  indicates  boldface 
type,  of  which  there  are  several  varieties,  and 
a  double  wavy  line  indicates  BOLD-FACE 
CAPITALS. 

5.  Punctuation.      Indicate    commas,    semi- 
colons, and  colons  clearly,  and  draw  a  small 
circle   around   every  period   that   ends   a  sen- 
tence ;  also  wherever  there  is  apt  to  be  any  un- 
certainty about  the  mark.    Accuracy  in  the  use 
of  hyphens  may  be  secured  by  using  two  small 
strokes  instead  of  one. 

6.  Paragraphs  and  Sentences.    In  the  manu- 
script,   paragraphs    should    be    indicated    by 
indenting    the    first    line    about    an    inch — in 
printed  form,  it  is  indented  about  a  quarter  of 
an  inch.    If  this  has  not  been  done  in  the  writ- 
ing, the  paragraph  can  be  indicated  by  using 
the  sign  (ft)  before  the  word  with  which  the 
paragraph  is  to  commence,  and  underscoring 
the  first  letter  for  capitalization.     Do  not  end 
a  paragraph  on  the  first  or  second  line  of  a 
sheet ;  it  is  far  better  to  sqeeze  the  extra  words 
or  line  on  the  bottom  of  the  preceding  sheet. 
Printer's  copy  is  often  divided  among  different 
compositors  and  this  ending  of  a  paragraph  at 
the  beginning  of  a  sheet  causes  much  annoy- 
ance.   Divided  words  also  cause  trouble — com- 
positors try  to  avoid  cutting  words  at  the  end 
of   lines    by    adjusting    the    spacing,    and    it 


EDITING  MANUSCRIPT  123 

should  be  avoided  in  the  manuscript  as  much 
as  possible.  When  a  paragraph  indentation 
that  has  been  made  in  the  writing  is  to  be 
changed,  connect  the  end  of  the  preceding  sen- 
tence and  the  beginning  of  the  paragraph  with 
a  line,  or  write  in  the  margin  "No  ft. " 

7.  Quotations.  It  is  customary  to  print 
quoted  correspondence,  clauses,  or  paragraphs 
in  a  different  style  from  that  used  in  the  main 
part  of  the  text.  Sometimes  the  same  size  type 
is  used,  but  set  "solid",  and  sometimes  a 
smaller  type  is  used.  This  may  be  indicated  in 
a  typewritten  manuscript  by  single-spacing 
the  writing  of  the  part  quoted,  and  in  hand- 
writing, by  a  similar  decrease  in  space  between 
the  lines.  Another,  and  probably,  the  most  ap- 
proved way,  is  to  draw  a  vertical  line  down  the 
left  side  of  any  matter  to  be  set  differently, 
and  the  style  or  size  of  type  to  be  used,  indi- 
cated in  the  margin  beside  this  line.  Com- 
monly a  single  vertical  line  indicates  one  size 
smaller  type  than  the  body  of  the  text;  a 
double  line,  two  sizes  smaller. 

It  is  customary,  in  all  kinds  of  engineering 
construction,  for  the  engineer  to  charge  to  esti- 
mates at  the  end  of  each  month  the  quantity  of 
material  furnished  on  the  ground  and  of  work 
done.  These  estimates  are  approximate  only  and 
serve  as  a  basis  for  making  monthly  payments 
to  the  contractor. 

It  is  customary  to  reserve  from  ten  to  twenty- 
five  per  cent,  of  these  monthly  estimates  until  the 
final  completion  of  the  work.  By  means  of  these 
monthly  payments  the  contractor  is  enabled  to 
carry  on  the  work  to  final  completion  with  a  much 
smaller  capital  than  would  be  required  if  no  pay- 
ments were  made  until  the  work  was  finished. 


126  ENGINEERING  LITEEATUEE 

To  indicate  the  size  and  style  of  type  prop- 
erly may  necessitate  a  knowledge  of  type  (see 
page  266)  greater  than  could  be  given  here, 
but  the  lack  of  this  knowledge  can  be  over- 
come by  marking  "larger  type",  "smaller 
type",  "set  solid",  "heavy  face",  etc.,  ac- 
cording to  the  writer's  ideas,  and  as  a  rule,  the 
printer  will  grasp  the  idea,  and  use  a  suitable 
type.  The  first  line  of  a  quotation  is  gen- 
erally indented,  and  sometimes-it  is  desirable  to 
indent  the  entire  quotation,  in  which  case, 
write  "indent"  in  the  margin.  In  quoting  one 
or  more  words,  enclose  words  in  quotation 
marks  (" — "),  and  if  quoting  a  misspelled 
word,  or  an  expression  in  dialect,  add  a  note  in 
margin  to  "follow  copy",  otherwise  the  com- 
positor may  correct  the  spelling. 

8.  Footnotes.  Footnotes  are  used  to  give 
credit  to  authorities  quoted  in  the  text,  or  to 
explain  the  meaning  of  some  word,  etc.  In  the 
manuscript  they  should  follow  immediately 
after  the  matter  to  which  they  refer — not  at 
the  bottom  of  the  sheet.  They  should  be  en- 
closed between  two  lines  drawn  distinctly 
across  the  page,  and  referred  to  by  a  reference 
mark,  as  *,  t,  $. 

*  f  |  Text  of  footnote,  usually  in  smaller  type 
than  main  text. 

When  the  footnotes  are  numerous,  they 
should  be  marked  by  reference  numerals  in- 
stead of  marks,  as  l,  2,  and  in  technical  papers, 


EDITING  MANUSCRIPT  127 

where  mathematical  expressions  are  used,  a 
half  circle  should  separate  them  from  the 
items  to  which  they  refer  to  prevent  any  pos- 
sibility of  their  being  mistaken  for  powers  or 
other  superior  characters. 
•  9.  Chapter  and  Section  Titles.  All  titles 
should  be  so  indicated  by  underscoring, 
according  to  their  importance.  For  paragraph 
topics  " side-heads",  in  alinement  with  the  first 
type  line  of  the  paragraph,  are  generally  used, 
and  are  set  in  Italics,  bold-face  type,  or  small 
capitals.  For  example: 

Two  General  Classes  of  Contracts.  There 
are  in  general  two  kinds  of  contracts, 
namely:  contracts  made  under  seal,  called 
sealed  contracts  or  specialties  **,  and  simple 
written  or  oral  agreements  unaccompanied 
with  the  formality  of  a  seal,  called  parol 
contracts. 

Sometimes  the  topics  are  set  in  a  "box",  as 
below.  The  "box-head"  is  more  expensive  in 
composition  than  the  "side-head"  and  is  used 
less.  Where  it  is  desired  it  should  be  indi- 
cated by  writing  the  words  of  the  side-note  in 
the  margin,  or  at  the  side  of  the  text,  where 
it  is  to  be  set,  and  surrounding  it  by  a  square 
drawn  with  the  pen.  Example: 

At  the  present  time  there  should  be  no  diffi- 
culty in  determining  the  relative  values  of  stones 
for   road   purposes   in   any   locality. 
Free  The   Office   of  Public   Roads   of  the 

Govern-  United  States  Department  of  Agri- 

ment  Tests,    culture    undertakes    to    make    tests 
and  analyses  of  samples  of  stones, 
without  charge,  and  to  give  advice 
as  to  their  value  for  road-building  purposes. 


128  ENGINEEEING  LITERATURE 

An  even  less  common  method  is  to  print  the 
notes  in  the  margin  instead  of  in  the  body  of 
the  text,  and  in  line  with  the  first  line  of  the 
paragraph.  This  method  is  not  common  in 
books,  but  it  is  used  to  a  considerable  extent 
in  specifications  and  in  various  forms  of  agree- 
ments. 

10.  Illustrations.  These  may  be  reproduc- 
tions of  photographs  or  line  drawings,  as  de- 
sired. Where  possible,  proofs  of  illustrations 
to  be  used  should  be  obtained  and  pasted 
in  approximately  their  proper  places  in  the 
manuscript.  Where  proofs  cannot  be  had,  leave 
a  space,  in  which  mark  "Here  insert  Figure 
,"  and  also  mark  the  title  of  the  illustra- 
tion. If  cuts  have  not  been  made,  send  the 
original  drawings,  photographs,  etc.,  with  the 
manuscript  but  not  attached  to  the  sheets,  and 
marked  to  correspond  with  the  places  where 
they  are  to  go  in  the  copy.  It  is  advisable 
whenever  possible,  for  the  author  to  have  the 
originals  of  these  illustrations  fully  prepared 
for  the  engraver.  To  do  this  properly  requires 
some  knowledge  of  drawing  and  of  the  prepa- 
ration of  photographs,  etc.,  for  the  photo-en- 
graver, which  subject  has,  therefore,  been 
treated  at  some  length  on  page  228.  In  send- 
ing original  drawings  and  photographs  to  the 
publisher,  care  should  be  taken  to  keep  them 
flat,  as  otherwise  they  may  be  broken  or  torn 
in  transit  so  that  reproduction  is  made  difficult 


EDITING  MANUSCRIPT  129 

or  impossible.  It  must  be  remembered  that,  as 
a  rule,  the  book  cannot  be  made  up  into  pages 
until  the  cuts  for  illustrations  have  been  sup- 
plied, so  there  should  be  no  unnecessary  delay 
in  the  preparation  of  the  illustrations.  If,  how- 
ever, it  should  happen  that  one  or  two  cuts  arc 
still  missing  when  the  book  is  made  up,  the 
work  need  not  be  delayed,  as  if  the  exact  sizes 
of  the  spaces  that  the  illustrations  are  to  occu- 
py are  given  to  the  printer,  he  will  make  up 
the  page,  leaving  this  space  blank  until  the 
cut  is  supplied.  This  method  should  not  be  re- 
sorted to  except  where  absolutely  necessary, 
and  should  not  be  adopted  in  any  case,  with  a 
large  number  of  illustrations. 

It  may  be  well  for  a  contributor  sending  in 
an  article  descriptive  of  some  building,  ma- 
chinery, etc.,  to  keep  in  mind  the  usefulness  of 
familiar  objects  as  a  scale  of  measurement. 
Wherever  in  a  photograph  a  man,  boy,  dog, 
tool,  etc.,  is  included,  a  scale  of  size  may  be 
based  on  this  object,  where  in  the  absence  of 
any  such  familiar  object,  it  is  often  difficult 
to  estimate  sizes. 

11.  Abbreviations.  As  a  general  rule,  words 
should  be  written  in  full  or  abbreviated, 
just  as  they  are  to  be  printed,  but  much  time 
may  be  saved  in  writing  a  manuscript  by  the 
use  of  abbreviations  for  common  words,  which, 
when  enclosed  in  a  circle,  are  understood  by 
the  printer  to  be  set  in  full.  Thus,  "Main  St.," 


130  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

enclosed  in  a  circle  would  be  set  "Main 
Street;"  "Engr.",  encircled,  would  be  set  "En- 
gineer." Conversely,  "Main  Street,"  enclosed 
in  a  circle,  would  be  set  "Main  St." 

12.  Notes  for  Guidance  of  Printer.  Should 
it  be  necessary  to  insert  memoranda  for 
the  printer  other  than  the  marginal  notes  and 
corrections  here  outlined,  they  should  be 
written  in  an  ink  of  different  color  from  the 
text  matter.  Should  there  be  any  considerable 
number  of  general  instructions,  it  will  save 
time  and  confusion  if  these  are  written  on  a 
single  separate  sheet  to  accompany  the  manu- 
script, and  marked:  "Notes  for  Printer,"  in- 
stead of  repeating  them  throughout  the  manu- 
script. 

THE  LITERARY  FEATURES  OF  A  BOOK 
The  literary  features  of  a  book  consist  (and 
in  approximate  order)  of  Title,  Copyright,  Ded- 
ication (an  optional  feature  entirely),  Preface, 
Table  of  Contents,  List  of  Illustrations  (if 
sufficient  to  warrant  listing),  Introduction  (op- 
tional, and  usually  considered  as  part  of  the 
Text,  especially  where  the  Preface  is  at  all 
lengthy),  Text  (with  or  without  illustrations), 
Appendix  (an  optional  feature,  usually  consist- 
ing of  material  closely  but  indirectly  related 
to  the  subject-matter  of  the  book),  and  Index. 
Another  item  sometimes  found,  but  always  ob- 
jectionable, is  the  "Errata,"  consisting  of  er- 
rors discovered  after  the  sheets  have  been 


LITERARY  FEATURES  OF  BOOK  131 

printed.  An  "Errata"  sheet,  when  necessary, 
is  inserted  at  the  beginning  of  the  book,  just 
before  the  text  matter,  and  is  usually  a  sheet  of 
same  size  as  the  book-page.  It  too  often  indi- 
cates careless  proof-reading  and  is  to  be  avoid- 
ed, whenever  possible.  An  "Addenda"  sheet  is 
sometimes  used  to  include  some  new  matter 
brought  to  the  author's  attention  after  the 
printing  of  the  sheets;  it  helps  to  bring  the 
book  up  to  date,  and  when  it  does  so,  is  com- 
mendable. 

Of  the  literary  features  mentioned,  the  Ti- 
tle, Preface,  Text,  and  Index  are  the  only  ones 
that  should  need  any  special  discussion.  Copy- 
right is  treated  on  page  178.  The  Table  of 
Contents  is  merely  a  list  of  the  chapter-heads, 
sub-heads,  etc.,  with  page  folios,  arranged  for 
the  reader's  easy  reference,  and  if  the  subject 
matter  has  been  properly  divided  and  sub-di- 
vided, the  compilation  of  the  contents  presents 
no  difficulty.  The  List  of  Illustrations  is  mere- 
ly a  list  in  the  order  in  which  the  illustrations 
appear. 

1.  The  Title.  A  Title  should  be  brief. 
Years  ago  long  titles  were  the  custom,  of 
which  Bunyan's  "Pilgrim's  Progress"  is  a  good 
example,  having  thirty-eight  words  in  the  full 
title.  Today,  however,  in  all  branches  of  liter- 
ature the  short  title  is  in  favor.  It  is  more  eas- 
ily remembered*  and  referred  to.  No  more 
words  should  be  employed  than  are  necessary 


132  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

to  indicate  the  subject  matter  and  the  method 
in  which  it  is  to  be  treated.  If  it  is  found  dif- 
ficult to  observe  this  limitation  of  brevity,  a 
keyword  title  should  be  selected,  and  the  nec- 
essary amplification  expressed  in  a  sub-title. 
Such  a  title  as  ''The  Principles  of  the  Econom- 
ic Design  of  Electric  Power  Transmission 
Plants"  is  clearly  undesirable  from  more  than 
one  standpoint.  "Electric  Power  Plant  De- 
sign ' '  is  much  preferable.  ' '  Principles, "  "  Eco- 
nomic," and  "Transmission"  add  nothing  to 
the  inscription.  It  is  naturally  to  be  expected 
that  "principles"  will  be  set  forth  in  a  work  of 
this  nature;  that  "economical"  methods  will  be 
described  and  advocated,  and  that  there  will 
be  "transmission"  of  the  power  generated,  for 
practical  uses.  The  make-up  of  the  title-page 
should  have  careful  consideration. 

2.  The  Preface.  The  Preface  is  that  por- 
tion of  the  book  in  which  the  author  usually 
explains  his  purpose  in  writing  it ;  where  he 
outlines  his  method  of  treatment  of  the  sub- 
ject, and  gives  credit  for  his  material  to  whom 
credit  is  due.  Many  reviews  of  technical  books 
consist  merely  of  a  re-hash  of  the  words  or 
ideas  of  the  Preface,  and  some  authors,  espe- 
cially those  of  the  "hack"  style,  take  advan- 
tage of  this  by  making  rather  broad  statements 
of  what  their  books  are  or  are  supposed  to  be, 
and  by  indulging  in  considerable  self-praise, 
in  order  to  obtain  good  notices,  with  their  con- 


LITEEAEY  FEATUEES  OF  BOOK  133 

sequent  sales.  The  Preface  should  not,  how- 
ever, be  considered  as  an  opportunity  for  this 
indulgence;  the  author  should  remember  that 
he  is  addressing  the  public  that  is  to  be  con- 
vinced of  the  worth  of  his  publication.  In  this 
series  of  introductory  remarks  he  should,  there- 
fore, state  in  small  compass  the  method  of 
treatment  accorded  the  subject  matter  of  the 
work,  setting  forth  any  original  features  and 
the  strong  points  it  possesses  which  would  war- 
rant its  purchase  by  the  class  of  readers  likely 
to  be  interested.  The  fact  that  book  notices — 
almost  entirely — and  book  reviews — to  a  con- 
siderable extent — are  based  upon  such  prelim- 
inary recitals,  should  be  borne  in  mind,  also  the 
needs  of  the  individual  in  the  publisher's  sales 
department  whose  highly  necessary  duty  it  is 
to  give  effective  publicity  to  the  work,  but,  as 
stated,  these  facts  should  not  be  assumed  by 
the  author  as  an  opportunity  for  self-glorifica- 
tion. 

In  the  Preface  an  author  often  acknowl- 
edges the  assistance  of  some  friend  "in  read- 
ing the  proofs" — mere  drudgery.  Why  not 
have  your  friend  read  the  manuscript  and  thus, 
if  he  has  had  any  good  suggestions  to  make, 
have  the  changes  made  before  the  manuscript 
is  in  type  and  save  both  time  and  money.  In 
former  days,  it  was  customary  to  have  a  Pre- 
face written  by  some  man  of  prominence  as  an 
introduction  to  the  subject,  and  in  many  cases 


134  ENGINEEBING  LITEBATUKE 

the  Preface  was  of  far  more  literary  merit  than 
the  body  of  the  text,  but  now,  such  introduc- 
tory remarks  are  used  as  an  "Introduction," 
and  the  Preface  is  reserved  for  the  author's 
purposes.  The  Preface  ought  to  be  dated,  as 
it  becomes  after  a  series  of  editions,  each  con- 
taining a  supplementary  preface,  an  important 
feature  in  the  history  of  the  book,  or  of  the  sub- 
ject treated. 

3.  The  Text.  In  general  arrangement  it 
is  a  good  plan  to  follow  precedents  set  by  ex- 
perienced writers  and  established  publishing 
houses.  There  is  scarcely  a  technical  subject 
that  can  be  written  about  that  has  not  already 
received  treatment  at  the  hands  of  one  or  more 
authors,  and  while  rigid  adherence  to  pre- 
scribed forms  is  not  advised  or  always  advis- 
able, much  valuable  information  concerning 
technic  can  be  gained  through  an  examination 
of  the  contents  of  books  of  a  similar  nature. 
This  is  especially  so  in  regard  to  the  division 
of  the  matter  into  Parts,  Chapters,  Articles, 
Paragraphs,  etc.,  all  of  which  should  be  clearly 
shown  in  the  manuscript. 

In  preparing  tables  the  limitations  of  the 
size  of  the  printed  page  and  the  type  used 
should  be  considered.  Inserts,  or  folded  plates, 
should  not  be  used  if  at  all  possible  to  do  with- 
out them.  The  two  page-sizes  most  favored 
are  the  "Octavo"  (8vo.)  and  the  "Duodec- 
imo" (12mo.)  having  respective  type  dimen- 


LITEEAEY  FEATUEES  OF  BOOK  135 

sions  (excluding  page  headlines)  of  about  4  x 
6^4  inches  and  3%x5%  inches,  and  trimmed 
page  sizes  of  6x9  inches  and  5x7  inches.  With 
usual  size  of  type  and  spacing  employed,  an 
8vo.  page  contains  about  360  words  and  the 
12mo.  page  about  280.  It  is  easy,  therefore,  to 
approximately  calculate*  the  number  of  pages 
that  the  text  will  occupy,  and  to  this  number 
should  be  added  an  estimate  for  illustration, 
and  some  15  to  20  pages  more  for  title,  preface, 
contents,  index,  etc. 

As  to  style  of  composition,  sufficient  has  al- 
ready been  said  to  show  that  a  clear,  concise, 
and  exact  form  of  expression  should  be  adopt- 
ed. Let  the  sentences  be  short  and  the  state- 
ments free  from  ambiguities.  There  can  be  no 
fixed  rule  for  the  length  of  paragraphs  and  sen- 
tences. Sometimes  a  paragraph  may  consist 
of  a  single  sentence;  sometimes  of  an  entire 
page  or  more.  Likewise  a  sentence  may  con- 
sist of  two  words  or  one  hundred  words.  It 
must  have  a  subject  and  predicate,  and  its  com- 
plexity and  length  consist  in  the  modifications 
and  qualifications  attached  to  these.  Study  of 
the  paragraphs  and  sentences  of  good  writers 
will  aid  materially  in  a  suitable  division  of 
the  text,  but  as  a  rule,  and  especially  for  young 
writers,  a  good  rule  is  to  avoid  long  sentences.! 

*  For  a  more  exact  system  of  estimation  of  space 
occupied,  see  page  270. 

t  Frederick  Harrison  said  "It  is  a  good  rule  for  a 
young  writer  to  avoid  more  than  twenty  or  thirty 
words  without  a  full  stop,  and  not  to  put  more  than 
two  commas  in  each  sentence,  so  that  its  clauses 
shall  not  exceed  three." 


136  ENGINEERING  LITERATUEE 

Among  standard  writers,  Bacon  averaged  22 
words  to  a  sentence,  and  Milton  60.80 ;  between 
these  there  are  many  variations.  Variety  in 
sentence  forms  is  needed.  The  use  of  many 
short  simple  sentences  and  of  straggling  com- 
pound sentences  where  the  statements  are  tied 
together  loosely  by  Band's,"  "but's,"  "or's," 
"  which  V'  "however's,"  " therefore 's, "  etc., 
shows  that  the  writer  does  not  possess  the  nec- 
essary variety  of  forms  in  which  to  cast  his 
thought. 

It  should  always  be  kept  in  mind  that 
writers  of  technical  books  are  supposed  to 
have  something  to  say  that  is  of  value  to  busy 
technical  men,  and  it  is  well  to  say  it  in  a  clear 
and  concise  form.  The  "best  style"  is  a  pre- 
sentation of  the  subject  in  good,  clear-cut  Eng- 
lish, by  one  who  thoroughly  understands  him- 
self, but  who  does  not  assume  that  all  of  his 
possible  readers  are  equally  well-informed. 
Naturally  the  treatment  will  depend  somewhat 
on  whether  the  author  proposes  to  issue  a  book 
that  will  be  useful  to  the  beginner  as  well  as 
to  the  more  trained  engineer  or  intends  to  ap- 
peal only  to  a  small  class  of  experts  (see  page 
345).  The  single  purpose  of  the  book  should 
be  kept  in  mind  at  all  times,  and  collateral  dis- 
cussions, however  inviting,  should  be  limited  to 
the  strict  necessities  of  the  work. 

After  the  completion  of  the  manuscript,  it 
should  be  laid  away  for  a  few  days,  and  then 


LITERARY  FEATURES  OP  BOOK  137 

reread;  for  it  will  often  be  found  that  state- 
ments made  can  be  more  happily  phrased,  and 
that  certain  words  can  be  replaced  by  others 
more  precisely  expressing  the  ideas  intended. 
Nearly  everybody  will  realize  that  in  both  writ- 
ten and  oral  discussion  of  a  subject,  there  is  a 
tendency  on  the  part  of  the  author  to  expand 
his  remarks  in  order  to  make  himself  thorough- 
ly understood,  but  that  when  these  remarks  are 
read  over  with  the  continuity  presented  in  the 
completed  manuscript,  their  content  and  spirit 
will  be  fully  preserved  while  their  wording 
may  be  greatly  condensed  and  altered. 

4.  The  Index.  The  preparation  of  a  ser- 
viceable Index  is  a  test  of  the  author's  good 
common  sense.  The  Index  is  a  very  important 
part  of  the  book,  but  unfortunately  it  is  often 
very  unsatisfactory  and  sometimes  almost  use- 
less. The  secret  of  good  indexing  is  the  intelli- 
gent selection  of  keywords  for  each  topic, 
words  that  are  likely  to  suggest  themselves  to 
the  seeker  after  information  under  the  several 
topics,  and  that  with  this  word  selected,  every 
reference  under  that  head  should  be  included. 
The  writer  should,  as  far  as  possible,  endeavor 
to  put  himself  in  the  position  of  the  class  of 
readers  who  are  but  just  sufficiently  qualified 
to  take  up  his  work  and  to  derive  benefit  from 
it.  He  should  devote  careful  study  to  each  of 
the  final  page-proofs,  and  make  all  the  entries 
in  the  Index  to  which  he  can  conceive  it  possi- 


138  ENGINEERING  LITEEATUEE 

ble  that  such  readers  will  recur.  This  embraces 
suitable  cross-indexing,  the  inclusion  of  cross- 
references  and  the  sub-indexing  of  topics  under 
others  to  which  they  may  reasonably  be  con- 
sidered to  be  related.  And,  while  it  is  desir- 
able to  extend  the  limits  of  an  index  no  more 
than  is  necessary,  any  doubt  as  to  the  propri- 
ety of  a  particular  entry  should  be  settled  by 
its  retention.  The  subject  of  indexing  is  more 
fully  taken  up  on  page  324. 

Much  more  could  profitably  be  written  un- 
der .each  of  the  foregoing  heads,  but  enough 
has  been  said  to  indicate  to  authors  the  advan- 
tages accruing  to  them  from  the  proper  prep- 
aration of  copy;  to  show  that  thought  and  care 
expended  in  advance  of  the  presentation  of  a 
projected  book  to  a  publisher,  will  be  beneficial 
to  themselves  and  to  the  publisher,  and  will 
likewise  result  in  advantages  to  the  buyer  and 
the  reader. 

SPECIFICATIONS  FOR  TEXT-BOOKS 

Many  additional  suggestions  regarding  the 
arrangement  of  the  literary  features  of  the 
book  may  be  obtained  from  a  study  of  the 
specifications  presented  by  Prof.  I.  0.  Baker, 
in  a  paper  read  before  the  Society  for  the 
Promotion  of  Enginering  Education,  in  1895. 
Prof.  Baker  spoke  of  the  difficulty  in  giving 
young  men  a  general  and  also  a  professional 
education  in  only  four  years,  and  said  that 


SPECIFICATIONS  FOE  TEXT  BOOKS       139 

the  difficulties  could  be  decreased  by  improv- 
ing the  quality  of  the  text-books,  along  the 
lines  of  the  following  specifications,  which,  he 
claimed,  would  apply  in  most  particulars  also 
to  engineers'  reports,  contributions  to  the  pro- 
ceedings of  engineering  societies  and  to  engi- 
neering periodicals. 
His  specifications,  in  condensed  form,  are : 

1.  The  matter  should  be  arranged  in  proper 
sequence. 

2.  The  language  should  be  clear,  concise, 
and  forceful. 

3.  The  running  titles  and  headlines  should 
be  so  arranged  that  the  reader  can  easily  and 
quickly  find  any  particular  part. 

4.  Diagrams  and  figures,  as  far  as  possible, 
should  be  inserted  at  the  most  convenient  place 
in  the  text,  and  be  accompanied  by  a  descrip- 
tive legend. 

5.  Folding  plates  should  be  placed  at  the 
end  of  the  volume. 

6.  Folding  plates  should  have  a  blank  stub, 
such  that  when  the  plate  is  unfolded  the  print- 
ed matter  will  be  entirely  outside  the  body  of 
the  volume. 

7.  The  several  divisions  should  be  indicated 
by  the  proper  headings,   and  the  minor  sub- 
divisions   (sections)   should  be  numbered  con- 
tinuously through  the  volume,  chiefly  for  con- 
venience of  cross-reference. 

8.  Cross-references    should    state    also    the 
page. 


140  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

9.  Attention  should  be  given  to  the  typo- 
graphical arrangement  of  mathematical  formu- 
las. 

10.  The  nomenclature  should  be  suggestive 
of  the  quantity  represented. 

11.  The  nomenclature  should  be  prominent- 
ly stated  before  being  used. 

12.  Each  table  should  have  a  serial  num- 
ber, and  a  fully  explanatory  title  at  its  head. 

13.  Tables   should  be   divided  horizontally 
by  frequent  lines. 

14.  Each  horizontal  line  of  a  table  should 
have  a  serial  number. 

15.  The  vertical  major  divisions  of  tables 
should  be  indicated  by  double  rules. 

1.6.     The  relative  divisions  of  the  several  col- 
umns of  the  table  should  have  consideration. 

17.  Matter  of  minor  importance  should  be 
printed  in  finer  type. 

18.  The  book  should  have  a  very  full  index, 
with  page  references. 

19.  The  collections  of  "useful  tables "  fre- 
quently  printed   at   the    close   of  the   volume 
should  be  preceded  by  a  list  of  titles. 

20.  The  mechanical  execution  should  be  in 
keeping. 


XI 

" FIELD "  AND  "POLICY"  OP 
TECHNICAL  JOURNALS 

The  primary  purposes  of  any  journal  should 
be  the  production  of  revenue,  and  the  secur- 
ing of  a  position  of  paramount  influence  in 
the  field  it  represents.  The  attainment  of 
this  twofold  aim  depends  upon  the  combined 
efforts  of  the  business  and  the  editorial  depart- 
ments. On  the  latter  depends  the  standing  of 
the  journal  as  a  power  in  its  field;  to  this  de- 
partment the  periodical  looks  for  the  supply 
and  selection  of  literary  material  of  a  character 
useful  to  a  certain  class  of  readers.  Here  the 
business  department  steps  in  and  through  the 
circulation  of  the  periodical  among  these  read- 
ers, obtains  advertising,  on  which  the  journal 
must  depend  for  its  main  revenue,  in  fact,  for 
its  very  existence.  "We  are  not  interested  in 
the  present  work  with  the  details  of  manage- 
ment of  either  the  business  or  the  editorial 
department,  but  it  will  be  seen  that  the  success 
of  a  periodical  as  an  authority  in  any  branch 
of  literature  and  as  an  advertising  medium  is 
based  on  its  literary  pages,  and  this,  in  turn, 
shows  the  necessity  of  care  and  a  definite  policy 
in  the  selection  of  the  material  for  publication. 

141 


142  ENGINEEEING  LITERATUKE 

This  editorial  policy  covers  all  features  of  the 
literary  pages :  the  character  of  articles  accept- 
able; the  standards  of  quality;  the  acceptance, 
rejection,  editing,  and  return  of  contributions; 
payments  for  contributions;  abstracts  and  re- 
prints from  lectures,  papers,  reports,  etc.,  pre- 
sented at  conventions  and  society  meetings ;  the 
illustrating  of  articles;  the  use  of  letters  ad- 
dressed to  the  editor;  reviews  and  notices  of 
books;  standardization  of  type  and  make-up  of 
text  pages,  and  many  similar  details. 

There  are,  perhaps,  journals  made  up  of  a 
hotch-potch  of  clippings,  without  any  literary 
excuse  for  existence,  but  every  high-class  and 
successful  journal  has  a  definite  "Field"  and 
"Policy,"  to  which  it  rigidly  adheres.  The 
field  is  necessarily  a  development,  depending 
upon  the  progress  of  the  department  of  the 
profession  to  which  the  journal  relates  and 
upon  varying  commercial  conditions.  It  is  al- 
most as  impossible  for  a  journal  to  decide  on 
the  limits  of  its  field  at  the  commencement  of 
its  existence  as  it  is  for  a  college  student  to 
decide  on  the  limits  of  his  future  work  on  his 
graduation  day.  In  time,  however,  the  journal 
"finds  its  level,"  and  when  that  time  arrives 
and  a  definite  field  and  policy  have  been 
adopted  and  declared,  the  journal  should  show 
evidence  of  a  consistent  adherence  to  these 
principles. 

Acceptance  and  Rejection  of  Articles.    No 


FIELD  AND  POLICY  143 

journal  can,  of  course,  within  the  limits  of 
its  space,  publish  everything  of  interest  re- 
lating to  its  specialty,  but  it  should  be  the 
purpose  of  the  editors  to  keep  in  touch  with 
the  whole  range  of  information  in  that  branch 
of  the  profession  and. select  for  publication  the 
best  material  that  they  can  find  relating  to  it. 

Writers  frequently  ask  a  periodical  if  an 
article  on  this  or  that  subject  is  "in  its  line." 
As  a  rule,  all  articles  connected  with  the  de- 
clared field  of  the  journal  are  directly  "in  its 
line,"  but  whether  they  will  be  acceptable  or 
not  depends  solely  on  the  editor's  judgment  as 
to  their  interest  and  value  to  the  readers. 
Editors  are  always  pleased  to  receive  contri- 
butions on  any  subject  "in  its  line,"  from  any 
source  whatever.  These  are  usually  examined 
by  the  managing  editor,  and  such  as  are  found 
unavailable  for  use  in  any  form  are  returned 
to  the  senders  when  such  return  is  requested. 
Contributors  should  always  specially  request 
return  of  manuscript  when  this  is  desired,  and 
especially  of  drawings  and  photographs.  It  is 
also  well  to  send  stamps  with  a  contribution  to 
cover  cost  of  such  return.  (See  page  212.) 

Editors  will,  as  a  rule,  give  an  opinion  as  to 
whether  an  article  on  a  given  subject  is  likely 
to  prove  interesting,  but  the  final  acceptance 
of  an  article  is  seldom,  if  ever,  made  until  the 
complete  manuscript,  with  illustrations,  has 
been  submitted. 


144  ENGINEERING  LITERATUEE 

It  is  seldom  that  the  receipt  of  material  for 
publication  is  acknowledged,  unless  specially 
requested.  Losses  in  the  mails  are  so  rare  that 
it  is  not  deemed  worth  while  to  incur  the  addi- 
tional labor  of  such  acknowledgment,  hence  it 
is  advisable  to  send  a  contribution  by  regis- 
tered mail,  with  request  for  receipt,  or  by 
express. 

In  the  case  of  contributions  found  unavail- 
able and  returned  to  the  sender,  it  is  not  cus- 
tomary for  editors  to  state  by  personal  letter 
the  reasons  which  influence  their  decisions. 
The  paper  may  be  lacking  in  interest,  or  imper- 
fect in  preparation,  and  it  is  not  within  the 
province  of  an  editor  to  criticize  the  contrib- 
utor's work.  He  either  accepts  it  or  does  not 
accept  it.  In  the  latter  case  a  printed  slip  or 
letter  usually  accompanies  the  manuscript  to 
the  effect  that  the  return  of  the  article  does 
not  necessarily  imply  that  it  is  lacking  in  merit 
or  interest,  but  that  the  amount  of  matter 
offered  for  publication  is  so  large,  that  a  rigid 
selection  has  to  be  made  and  many  articles 
have  to  be  returned. 

Some  years  ago  this  printed  note  brought  an 
indignant  reply  from  a  "Scientist"  who  had 
offered  a  manuscript  in  which  he  claimed  to 
have  upset  an  established  engineering  formula 
that  had  been  in  universal  use  for  half  a  cen- 
tury. A  portion  of  this  letter  read  as  follows : 
"The  return  of  my  paper  by  means  of  a 


FIELD  AND  POLICY  145 

printed  blank,  looked  to  me  so  mean  and 
insulting,  that  I  concluded  to  avoid  being 
reminded  of  the  insult,  by  henceforth  con- 
sidering " '  as  non-exist- 
ent. *  *  *  It  is  hard  for  an  old  scientist 
to  have  his  work  judged  of  in  private  by 
newlings,  but  harder  yet  to  have  it  done 
by  printed  blanks.  The  rudeness  of  it 
must  make  enemies  unless  my  nature  is  all 
different  from  that  of  others." 

Naturally,  any  journal  would  regret  to  be 
considered  as  "  non-existent, "  but  for  the 
reasons  above  stated,  the  printed  forms  are  still 
used  by  all  high-class  journals  and  they  all 
thereby  run  the  risk  of  making  enemies  of 
contributors  like  the  "old  scientist"  just 
quoted. 

Trade  " Write-ups. "  What  has  been  said 
with  reference  to  the  offer  and  return 
of  manuscripts  applies  especially  to  papers  that 
are  submitted  for  publication  and  for 
which  their  writers  expect  compensation,  but 
the  general  principles  of  consideration  ap- 
ply also  to  all  classes  of  contributions.  Edi- 
tors are  frequently  asked,  for  example, 
what  their  position  is  in  reference  to  what 
are  commonly  known  as  "trade  write-ups." 
This  is  a  matter  regarded  from  widely  varying 
points  of  view  by  different  periodicals.  The 
higher  class  journals  seeking  to  give  real  in- 
formation to  their  readers  apply  the  same  gen- 
eral rule  regarding  selection  to  this  as  to  other 


146  ENGINEERING  LITEEATUEE 

material — that  the  first  consideration  is  the 
interest  of  the  reader.  The  fact  is  generally 
recognized  that  outside  of  " Civil  Engineering" 
in  professional  work,  the  great  bulk  of  the  con- 
structive engineering  work  that  is  carried  on 
in  this  country  is  done  by  manufacturing  firms. 
It  is  to  them  therefore  that  editors  have  to 
look,  chiefly,  for  a  great  deal  of  matter  of 
interest  and  practical  value  to  engineers,  and 
contributions  from  such  firms  are  always  wel- 
comed, but  they  must  be  judged  on  the  same 
basis  as  those  from  any  other  source.  If  a 
manufacturer  has  a  new  machine  or  device  of 
interest  to  engineers,  and  will  furnish  a  peri- 
odical such  drawings  or  particulars  concerning 
it  as  will  enable  an  engineer  to  form  a  judg- 
ment as  to  its  merits,  the  editors  can  often 
prepare  an  article  that  will  be  of  great  prac- 
tical value  to  many  of  their  readers.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  the  manufacturer  sends  in  a  cut 
of  a  machine  which  shows  nothing  except  what 
a  wood-engraver  imagines  its  external  appear- 
ance to  be,  and  a  so-called  description  which, 
in  reality,  is  only  a  string  of  vague  generalities 
concerning  what  he  considers  its  merits,  he  has 
no  cause  for  complaint  at  the  editors'  decision 
that  such  matter  is  not  of  sufficient  interest  to 
their  readers  to  warrant  their  giving  it  space. 
This  sort  of  descriptive  article  is  commonly 
known  as  a  "write-up."  It  is  as  a  thorn  in  the 
editor's  side.  It  is  produced  for  commercial 


FIELD  AND  POLICY  147 

purposes  only,  with  nothing  of  professional 
interest  about  it,  and  it  does  not  deserve  to 
rank  as  technical  literature.  There  are  papers 
that  consist  almost  entirely  of  such  material — • 
mere  bundles  of  circulars  that  have  filled  the 
requirements  of  the  law  and  have  obtained  the 
second-class  mail  rating.  But  the  "  write-up 
periodical"  is  not  recognized  in  the  ranks  of 
high-class  journalism.  The  "write-up"  is  a 
scheme  to  get  something  for  nothing;  to  get  a 
little  more  publicity  than  an  advertiser  pays 
for,  or  to  get  publicity  without  paying  for  it 
at  all,  and  further  to  get  this  publicity  under 
the  stamp  of  a  journal's  editorial  commenda- 
tion of  the  article  described.  The  advertiser 
pays  his  money  for  the  privilege  of  addressing 
the  audience  reached  by  the  periodical,  and  is 
not  entitled  to  be  specially  boosted  in  the  pages 
for  which  the  subscriber  pays  his  money  with 
the  expectation  of  receiving  reliable  engineer- 
ing information.* 

Correspondence.  A  department  of  many  jour- 
nals which  is  often  much  appreciated  by  its 
readers  is  devoted  to  "Correspondence"  or 
"Letters  to  the  Editor."  The  object  of  this 
department  is  to  provide  a  place  for  the  open 
discussion  of  matters  of  interest  to  readers.  It 
should  be  conducted  with  entire  impartiality 
and  contributors  should  have  perfect  freedom 


*This  matter  is  so  important  and  so  generally  abused 
in  technical  literature,  that  I  have  quoted  an  edi- 
torial on  the  subject  on  page  158. 


148  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

in  the  expression  of  their  opinions  concerning 
such  current  questions  as  may  interest  them, 
whatever  their  views  or  opinions  may  be,  pro- 
vided, of  course,  that  their  letters  come  under 
the  rule  above  stated,  namely,  that  they  are 
matters  of  general  interest  to  the  readers  of 
the  journal. 

In  cases  where  readers  criticize  the  work  of 
some  person  or  firm,  and  the  letter  is  judged  by 
the  editor  to  be  worthy  of  publication,  it  is  a 
usual  practice  to  submit  an  advance  proof  of 
the  letter  to  the  party  who  is  criticized  and 
afford  him  an  opportunity  to  reply  in  the  same 
issue  in  which  the  criticism  appears.  In  all 
such  discussions,  it  is  naturally  expected  that 
those  taking  part  will  observe  the  usual  cour- 
tesies of  debate  and  refrain  from  libellous  or 
insinuating  personalities.  If  that  point  is 
reached,  or  when  the  debate  has  reached  a 
point  where  it  lacks  general  interest,  the  editor 
will  summarily  close  it  by  refusing  to  publish 
further  correspondence. 

Contributors  are  always  at  liberty  to  veil 
their  identity  under  noms-de-plume  if  they 
choose  in  the.  publication  of  matter;  but  in 
writing  to  an  editor  they  should  always  give 
their  real  names ;  otherwise  the  waste-basket  is 
the  inevitable  end  of  their  contributions.  One 
would  suppose  that  the  standing  rule  of  all 
reputable  publications  that  "No  attention  can 
be  paid  to  anonymous  communications"  would 


FIELD  AND  POLICY  149 

at  this  day  be  well  known  to  all  intelligent 
men.  Yet  editors  regularly  receive  letters 
signed  by  fictitious  names.  If  the  writers  of 
such  letters  would  imagine  themselves  in  the 
place  of  the  publishers  they  would  readily  per- 
ceive the  necessity  of  this  cast-iron  rule  and 
the  reasons  why  such  letters  or  the  information 
they  contain  cannot  be  published.  Also  letters 
are  frequently  received  by  editors  containing 
items  of  news  for  publication  when  it  seems 
evident  that  the  writer  omitted  to  sign  his 
name  merely  from  modesty — or  carelessness. 
He  did  not  reflect  that  without  an  authoritative 
signature  the  news  lacks  all  authority.  Such 
items  would  not  be  published  by  any  newspa- 
per, so  surely  not  by  a  publication  which  aims 
at  accuracy  and  reliability,  as  does  the  average 
technical  journal. 

There  is  much  misapprehension  in  the  minds 
of  readers  as  to  the  degree  to  which  editors 
assume  responsibility  for  the  matter  published 
in  the  various  departments  of  a  journal.  To 
make  this  clear,  it  may  be  said  that  the  matter 
published  in  the  editorial  pages,  and  in  fact, 
all  matter  not  signed  or  otherwise  credited  to 
some  source,  may  be  understood  to  be  prepared 
by  the  editors ;  the  contributed  matter  and  the 
matter  taken  from  proceedings  of  engineering 
societies  represent  the  views  and  opinions  of 
those  to  whom  it  is  credited,  and  not  neces- 
sarily the  opinions  of  the  editors.  It  may  be 


150  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

assumed  that  all  such  material  has  been  exam- 
ined by  the  editors,  and  has  been  judged  by 
them  to  be  of  sufficient  interest  to  be  worth 
publication;  but  it  does  not  follow  that  they 
approve  of  or  agree  with  the  ideas  or  opinions 
which  the  writer  may  express.  In  the  ''Corres- 
pondence Department,"  especially,  it  should 
be  the  aim  to  give  a  fair  field  to  all  who  have 
something  to  say  that  is  worth  saying,  whether 
it  coincides  with  the  journal's  opinions  or  not. 
The  responsibility  that  could  be  assumed  by 
the  editors  in  this  department  is  limited  to  that 
of  seeing  that  every  correspondent  practices 
the  ordinary  courtesies  of  controversial  discus- 
sion ;  that  personalities  are  eliminated  or  modi- 
fied, and  that  the  time  of  the  paper's  readers 
is  not  consumed  to  the  exclusion  of  more  valu- 
able matter  by  trivial  subjects  or  long-drawn- 
out  disputes.  To  "edit"  these  letters  beyond 
this  point,  and  particularly  to  select  and  trim 
them  to  suit  the  opinions  of  the  editors,  would 
result  only  in  dispossessing  them  of  any  value 
they  may  have  as  individual  expressions  of 
opinions.  Neither  would  it  be  fair  for  editors 
to  support  either  side  in  a  controversy. 

This  defining  of  the  extent  to  which  an  ed- 
itor's responsibility  extends  should  not  be  mis- 
understood as  magnifying  the  importance  of 
an  editor's  own  opinions.  Editors  are  generally 
well  aware  that  they  are  far  from  infallible; 
in  fact,  they  are  probably  better  aware  how 


FIELD  AND  POLICY  151 

far  their  work  falls  short  of  whatever  high 
standard  they  may  have  set  for  themselves, 
than  are  any  of  their  readers.  But  an  editor 
of  a  reputable  periodical  is,  as  a  rule,  at  least 
conscientious  in  adhering  to  the  principles  that 
have  been  outlined  of  impartiality  and  con- 
sistency to  the  interests  of  his  readers  and  of 
the  profession  represented  by  his  journal. 

Personals.  There  is  no  department,  perhaps, 
in  which  a  journal  is  more  dependent  upon 
its  readers  for  assistance,  than  that  of  "Per- 
sonals." This  is  usually  a  very  brief  sum- 
mary of  items  of  personal  interest  concern- 
ing people  connected  with  the  profession, 
and  to  get  these  items  a  journal  must  rely 
on  its  readers  to  furnish  the  necessary 
information.  What  should  be  especially  de- 
sired as  matters  of  interest  to  the  profession 
or  trade  and  what  readers  should  send  in  are 
notices  of  appointments  and  changes  in  official 
positions,  but  under  ordinary  circumstances, 
few  periodicals  can  afford  the  space  for  noting 
reelections  and  reappointments.  As  this  de- 
partment is  one  of  information  only  and  is  not 
conducted  to  advertise  the  business  of  any  indi- 
vidual, such  items  should  be  excluded  as  are 
mere  records  of  ordinary  professional  engage- 
ments of  consulting  engineers. 

As  a  typical  example  of  a  formulated  policy 
regarding  the  selection  of  matter  for  publica- 
tion, and  of  policy  regarding  style  (typograph- 


152  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

ical,  etc.)  adopted  in  the  make-up  of  the  text 
matter,  there  follows  below,  a  reprint  of  an  edi- 
torial in  "Engineering  News"  covering  the  se- 
lection of  matter  for  publication  in  that  peri- 
odical, and  on  page  289,  rules  for  the  make-up 
of  the  text  matter. 

SELECTION  OF  MATTER  FOR  PUBLICATION 

(Reprinted  from  an  editorial  in  ''Engineering 

News,"  April  24,  1902.) 
The  frequency  of  requests  from  manufac- 
turers, advertisers  and  others  for  the  publica- 
tion in  this  journal  of  articles  descriptive  of 
tools,  machinery,  apparatus,  etc.,  has  caused 
the  preparation  of  the  following  explanation 
of  our  policy  with  reference  to  such  articles : 

I. 

The  selection  of  all  matter  for  publication 
in  the  reading  matter  pages  of  Engineering 
News  is  made  solely  on  the  basis  of  its  interest 
and  value  to  the  readers.  This  journal  has  no 
"deadhead"  list.  Its  subscribers  pay  five  dol- 
lars a  year  for  their  paper  and  are  entitled  to 
receive  the  best  matter  that  the  editors  can 
select.  To  make  this  selection  on  any  other 
ground  than  the  readers'  interest — to  publish 
this  article  to  please  a  personal  friend,  that  to 
please  an  advertising  patron,  the  other  for 
some  form  of  payment,  direct  or  indirect — is 
essentially  to  defraud  the  subscriber. 


SELECTION  OF  MATTER  153 

The  article  which  is  chosen  for  such  ulterior 
reasons  might  be  in  itself  comparatively  harm- 
less; it  might  be  so  well  written  that  not  one 
reader  in  a  thousand  would  notice  it  to  be 
below  the  standard  usually  maintained  in  this 
journal ;  yet  if  the  principle  is  once  established 
that  articles  may  be  selected  for  publication 
for  other  reasons  than  their  actual  value  to  the 
reader,  the  road  downhill  is  an  easy  one.  If 
one  advertiser  is  given  a  "trade-write-up."  an- 
other must  have  a  "reading  notice."  It  is  a 
short  step  from  that  to  the  direct  sale  of  space 
in  the  reading  matter  pages  as  part  of  an  ad- 
vertising contract,  and  another  short  step  to 
the  publication  of  paid  puffs  to  help  one  com- 
petitor and  paid  blackmailing  articles  to  injure 
another. 

This  is  the  reason  why  our  rule  that  the 
readers'  interest,  and  that  alone,  must  govern 
in  the  selection  of  articles,  is  rigidly  main- 
tained. 

II. 

A  very  large  part  of  the  important  and  in- 
teresting engineering  work  of  the  present  day 
is  being  done  in  connection  with  manufactur- 
ing establishments.  The  published  description 
of  this  work  may  be  and  often  is  an  exceed- 
ingly valuable  advertisement  for  the  parties 
interested.  This  fact,  as  stated  above,  is  no 
reason  why  we  should  give  space  to  it  in 


154  ENGINEEKING  LITEKATUKE 

Engineering  News;  but  on  the  other  hand,  it 
is  no  reason  why  we  should  exclude  it.  What 
we  are  after  is  what  will  interest  our  readers. 
If  the  publication  of  an  article  benefits  some- 
body or  other  as  an  advertisement,  so  much  the 
better. 

The  editors  of  Engineering  News,  therefore, 
receive  and  examine  with  great  care  matter 
submitted  by  manufacturers,  advertisers,  and 
others  descriptive  of  new  devices,  machinery, 
tools,  plant  and  methods  of  doing  work,  and 
selection  is  made  from  this  matter  solely  on 
the  basis  of  what  the  editors  believe  to  be  the 
interest  of  the  readers.  Thus  the  "  trade- 
write-up  "  is  judged  on  the  same  basis  as  the 
original  contribution  of  a  practicing  engineer, 
or  the  paper  read  before  an  engineering  soci- 
ety. The  better  the  article  which  the  manu- 
facturer submits,  the  better  its  chances  of  ac- 
ceptance. It  must  be  remembered  that  the 
amount  of  matter  offered  to  the  editors,  and 
from  which  they  must  make  their  choice,  is 
many  times  as  great  as  the  pages  of  Engi- 
neering News  can  contain.  Obviously  a  great 
deal  of  matter  has  to  be  rejected,  not  because 
it  is  not  good,  but  because  it  does  not  rank 
among  the  best. 

III. 

The  conditions  of  publication  are  often  of 
importance  in  determining  the  acceptance  or 


SELECTION  OF  MATTEE  155 

rejection  of  an  article.  The  " trade- write-up" 
which  is  sent  out  broadcast  to  all  sorts  of  trade 
journals  is  .pretty  sure  of  rejection.  That 
which  is  sent  out  for  simultaneous  publication 
in  a  limited  list  of  papers  stands  a  little  better 
chance,  but  if  accepted  it  will  generally  be 
given  briefer  space  than  it  would  receive  were 
we  given  the  first  opportunity  of  publication, 
or  were  the  article  given  to  us  exclusively. 

IV. 

Not  only  for  the  sake  of  securing  its  accept- 
ance, but  for  the  sake  of  holding  the  interest 
of  the  largest  number  of  our  readers,  it  is 
worth  while  to  take  much  pains  in  the  prep- 
aration of  matter  to  be  offered  to  Engineering 
News.  Where  matter  is  to  be  submitted  by  a 
manufacturing  establishment  we  would  coun- 
sel its  preparation  by  the  engineering  depart- 
ment rather  than  the  advertising  department. 
What  we  want,  and  what  our  readers  want,  is 
not  ''glittering  generalities"  but  plain  state- 
ments by  the  practical  men  of  how  engineering 
problems  have  been  solved.  For  illustrations, 
we  prefer  drawings  or  blue-prints  and  good 
photographs,  from  which  we  can  prepare  our 
own  cuts. 

Y. 

Final  decision  as  to  whether  an  article  of- 
fered to  us  will  be  accepted,  cannot  be  made 
until  the  completed  article  is  placed  in  our 


156  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

hands.  We  will  give  an  opinion,  however,  on 
request,  as  to  the  probabilities  of  an  article 
on  a  stated  subject  being  acceptable.  Matter 
found  unavailable  for  use  will  be  returned,  if 
return  is  requested. 

VI. 

As  a  rule,  new  inventions,  machines,  etc., 
are  not  described  until  they  have  been  actually 
built  and  practically  operated.  Exception  to 
this  rule  is  made  only  in  case  a  device  is  of 
unusual  interest  and  is  of  such  a  character  that 
its  merits  can  be  fairly  judged  from  the  de- 
scription and  drawing.  It  may  be  added  that 
this  rule  works  to  the  benefit  of  the  inventor. 
It  is  a  mistake  to  rush  into  print  with  the  de- 
scription of  a  device  until  it  has  actually  taken 
concrete  form,  and  until  actual  experience 
can  be  quoted  in  support  of  the  claims  made 
for  it. 

VII. 

"We  pay  cash  for  original  contributions  to 
Engineering  News.  Articles  prepared  by  our 
own  staff  on  the  basis  of  information  furnished 
by  manufacturers  are  of  course  not  paid  for, 
under  ordinary  circumstances.  No  articles  are 
paid  for  unless  furnished  exclusively  to  us, 
and  in  the  submission  of  matter  by  manufac- 
turers it  should  be  explicitly  stated  whether 
any  prior  publication  has  been  made,  and,  if 
so,  where.  (Mention  in  trade  catalogues  should 


SELECTION  OF  MATTER  157 

not  be  omitted.)  It  should  also  be  stated 
whether  exclusive  publication  is  offered  to  us 
or  whether  the  matter  is  to  be  given  to  other 
journals,  with  full  particulars. 

VIII. 

The  editors  lay  no  claim  to  infallibility  of 
judgment  or  infinite  knowledge.  They  may 
often  err  in  their  selection  of  matter  by  accept- 
ing the  poorer  and  rejecting  the  better.  More- 
over, they  have  to  be  governed  by  conditions 
of  which  the  outsider  knows  nothing.  Avail- 
able space  and  current  interest  in  a  particular 
line  may  often  cause  the  acceptance  of  an  arti- 
cle which  is  in  other  respects  not  so  good  as 
other  articles  which  meet  with  refusal.  The 
demands  on  the  time  of  the  editors  are  such 
that  they  cannot  undertake  to  state  in  detail 
the  reasons  which  govern  their  decision  to  ac- 
cept or  reject  any  article. 


IIX 

THE  " WRITE-UP"  ARTICLE 

(Reprinted  from  an  editorial  in  "Mining  and  Scien- 
tific Press,"  of  Dec.  26,  1908.) 

The  exploitation  of  a  manufactured  product 
in  the  guise  of  reading  matter  is  called  a 
"write-up."  It  is  not  a  literary  word  and  it 
does  not  represent  literature ;  it  is  the  ex- 
ponent of  a  commercial  idea  in  the  guise  of 
scientific  or  technical  information. 

In  the  daily  press  you  find  yourself  read- 
ing a  paragraph  that  begins  with  a  seductive 
reference  to  the  "grandeur  that  was  Greece 
or  the  glory  that  was  Rome"  and  ends  by 
recommending  Snook's  soap.  In  the  financial 
press  you  become  absorbed  in  a  picturesque 
account  of  South  African  mining  only  to  dis- 
cover that  you  have  been  inveigled  into  a  con- 
sideration of  the  opportunity  for  sudden  wealth 
presented  by  the  shares  of  the  Great  Bullion 
Extended  Mining  Co.  in  southern  Nevada.  In 
a  technical  paper  you  plunge  into  a  turbid 
description  of  pumps  and  their  work  in  mines, 
to  find  that  the  purpose  of  the  article  is  to 
recommend  the  Jones  centrifugal  pump  manu- 
factured by  the  Jones  Co.,  of  Jonesville,  Tenn. 

If  you  are  good  natured,  not  too  busy,  and 
possessed  of  a  sense  of  humor,  you  laugh  at 
158 


THE  WRITE-UP  ARTICLE  159 

yourself  as  the  victim  of  a  practical  joke; 
if,  however,  your  liver  is  sluggish,  or  you  are 
a  busy  man,  or  do  not  appreciate  foolery,  you 
kick  yourself  for  being  deceived  and  there  is 
developed  a  longing  to  express  your  sentiments 
to  the  responsible  editor.  Undoubtedly,  the 
"write-up"  is  in  the  nature  of  an  impertinence. 

But  beside  the  cruder  forms  of  this  insidious 
method  of  gaining  publicity  without  payment, 
there  are  unaffected  descriptions  of  manufac- 
tured products  that  appear  in  trade  and  tech- 
nical papers.  Thus  the  write-up  becomes  a 
specious  indorsement  of  one  advertiser's  wares 
at  the  expense  of  the  other  advertisers,  and 
eventually  it  is  to  the  detriment  even  of  the 
favored  individual.  For  it  is  obvious  that  if 
a  "write-up"  is  not  as  trustworthy  as  matter 
coming  from  an  unprejudiced  source,  then  it 
lessens  the  interest  of  the  reading  portion  of 
the  paper  and  renders  the  advertising  less  valu- 
able.* There  is  no  escape  from  this  conclusion. 

The  representative  of  a  machinery  firm 
brings  a  description  of  his  works,  with  a  photo- 
graph of  the  establishment,  and  wants  it  pub- 
lished as  reading  matter.  The  sight  of  it  in 
the  paper  may  gratify  the  members  of  that 
particular  firm,  but  it  is  certain  that  it  is  of 
value  to  no  one  else,  for  the  products  of  manu- 
facture do  not  depend  for  their  excellence  on 
the  appearance  of  the  building  in  which  they 
are  made.  Moreover,  the  insertion  of  such  an 


160  ENGINEEKING  LITERATUKE 

article  is  not  fair,  for  the  advertiser  is  simply 
asking  for  so  much  gratuitous  advertising  in 
a  part  of  the  paper  where  he  thinks  he  may 
get  exceptional  publicity.  The  reader  is  an- 
noyed, for  the  "write-up"  is  not  of  interest 
to  him;  he  does  not  rate  Smith's  pumps  by  the 
look  of  Smith's  factory. 

It  comes  to  this,  that  anything  which  lessens 
the  interest  of  the  reading  pages  tends  to  hin- 
der the  purpose  of  the  advertising ;  protect  the 
reader  and  you  safeguard  the  advertiser,  for 
no  one  that  has  become  annoyed  or  displeased 
with  the  reading  matter  is  likely  to  spend 
much  time  over  the  advertisements;  on  the 
contrary,  it  is  the  satisfactory  character  of  the 
articles  that  will  cause  a  reader  to  hold  a 
paper  in  his  hands  long  enough  to  turn  over 
the  pages  of  advertisements. 

But  we  shall  be  told  that  there  are  write-ups 
and  write-ups;  that  what  we  have  said  may 
apply  to  certain  forms  of  this  method,  but  it 
does  an  injustice  to  the  skillful  write-up,  which 
gives  reliable  information  while  incidentally 
fulfilling  another  purpose.  This  is  a  matter  of 
opinion.  Even  the  best  of  the  stuff  sent  broad- 
cast by  the  publicity  bureaus  of  manufacturing 
companies  is  prejudiced;  among  the  facts  lurk 
fallacies ;  betwreen  the  scientific  data  are  sand- 
wiched the  exaggerations  of  a  salesman.  It 
may  be  a  long  way  from  the  fervid  rot  of  a 
corn  doctor  to  the  pseudo-scientific  literature 


THE  WEITE-UP  ARTICLE  161 

of  a  publicity  manager,  but  there  is  every 
gradation  between  them  and  they  are  tainted 
by  the  same  fatal  defect. 

It  is  the  editor's  duty  to  protect  his  reader; 
in  so  doing  he  advances  the  best  interests  of 
the  advertiser,  for  by  such  methods  the  ad- 
vertiser is  given  the  best  opportunity  to  win 
the  attention  of  the  reader.  For  this  reason 
the  signed  article  that  masquerades  as  an  in- 
dependent statement,  while  really  the  puff  of 
an  advertiser,  is  particularly  objectionable. 

Not  content  with  self-laudatory  paragraphs, 
some  manufacturing  firms  employ  technical 
men  to  write  articles  for  publication,  in  which 
the  principles  underlying  certain  types  of  ma- 
chinery are  specially  advocated,  so  as  to  pre- 
pare the  way  for  the  reception  of  a  recom- 
mendation of  the  machines  themselves.  Of 
course,  there  is  no  reason  why  the  inventor  or 
the  manufacturer  of  a  machine  should  not 
tell  the  truth  in  an  interesting  way,  and  it 
happens  often  that  information  concerning  pro- 
cesses and  devices  can  be  obtained  only  from 
such  sources.  In  that  case,  the  position  of 
the  author  should  be  frankly  stated;  it  cer- 
tainly would  be  deemed  a  courtesy  to  the 
reader  and  would  tend  to  inspire  confidence. 
Any  feature  of  the  reading  pages  that  wins 
the  confidence  or  commands  the  respect  of  the 
reader,  by  so  much  increases  the  value  of  the 
service  given  to  the  advertiser. 


162  ENGINEERING  LITEEATUEE 

Is  this  Utopian  and  impracticable  ?  We  trust 
not.  It  is  sound  business,  not  poetry.  The 
practice  of  recommending  mining  stocks  and 
puffing  companies  in  the  editorial  columns  be- 
cause they  advertise  their  prospectuses  on  an- 
other page  has  died  out  in  America,  that  is, 
among  the  journals  of  any  standing.  In  Lon- 
don the  mining  papers  are  still  subventioned 
in  various  ways;  the  mining  company  pays  for 
an  account  of  its  meeting,  for  the  publication 
of  reports,  for  reprints  of  the  speech  made  by 
its  chairman,  and  for  sundry  other  ways  in 
which  it  gets  favorable  publicity;  the  papers 
distribute  praise  or  blame,  or  maintain  an  omi- 
nous silence,  according  to  the  amount  of  ad- 
vertising taken  with  them.  Paid  matter  ap- 
pears in  the  heart  of  the  reading  pages,  the 
right  hand  watches  the  left,  the  business  de- 
partment and  the  editorial  are  partners  in  a 
sordid  business.  And  what  is  the  result?  The 
advertising  pages  have  scarcely  any  value. 
Why?  Because  the  reading  matter  is  unre- 
liable. There  you  have  it. 

In  America  the  leading  journals  do  not  in- 
sert paid  matter  in  their  reading  pages,  and 
the  only  blemish  is  the  "write-up,"  which  is  a 
sop  to  Verberus,  the  donation  of  extra  pub- 
licity gratuitously  to  those  who  advertise,  or 
are  expected  to  advertise,  in  the  paper.  This 
reminds  us  of  a  petty  form  of  ' '  graft ' '  operated 
in  connection  with  write-ups.  A  firm  that  does 


THE  WRITE-UP  ARTICLE  163 

not  advertise  with  you  will  send  a  write-up 
"because  it  is  interesting"  and  it  will  have 
the  cheek  to  ask  you  to  publish  it  to  the  end 
that  its  products  may  be  advertised  free.  This 
does  an  injustice  to  the  advertiser  that  pays. 
The  excuse  to  be  made  for  the  "write-up"  is 
that  it  is  a  courtesy  to  a  client,  a  concession 
to  one  with  whom  you  are  doing  mutually 
profitable  and  honorable  business,  therefore 
when  a  non-advertiser  asks  for  advertising 
space  in  your  reading  pages  he  exhibits  monu- 
mental effrontery.  Your  reader  does  not  even 
have  the  satisfaction  of  turning  to  the  adver- 
tising pages  for  further  information.  A  young 
man  obtained  a  testimonial  as  to  his  ability 
from  his  own  mother.  That  is  the  "write-up" 
in  its  simplest  form — interesting  to  the  family ! 


XIII 

RIGHTS  OF  AN  AUTHOR  IN  HIS  WORKS 

Literary  Property.  The  general  term  used 
to  express  the  ownership  which  an  author  has 
in  his  works,  without  reference  to  the  point 
whether  he  claims  it  under  the  protection  of  a 
copyright  or  not,  is  "Literary  Property," 
which  accordingly,  includes  the  ownership  of 
unpublished  or  manuscript  wrorks,  letters, 
etc.  It  is  generally  recognized  that  if 
a  person  composes  a  literary  work,  and 
does  not  choose  to  publish  it,  it  is  still 
as  much  his  property  as  is  his  real  estate. 
He  may  not  have  legal  rights  simply  in  his 
ideas,  but  he  does  have  a  title  to  them  consid- 
ered in  reference  to  the  outward  form  in  which 
they  are  clothed.  This  feature  of  common  law 
protects  an  author  from  improper  use  of  an 
original  manuscript  sent  to  a  publisher  or 
printer.  In  case  of  any  improper  use  of  his 
property  the  regular  legal  remedies  for  the 
violation  of  rights  of  property  would  be  appli- 
cable, and  the  usual  incidents  of  property 
would  attach;  still,  for  special  reasons,  such 
unpublished  writings  cannot  be  taken  by  cred- 
itors in  payment  for  debts.  An  owner  of  this 
kind  of  property  can  sell  it  or  dispose  of  it  by 

164 


EIGHTS   OF   AUTHOR  165 

will,  or  it  may  pass  to  his  representatives  at 
his  death  in  the  ordinary  course  of  succession. 

The  rights  of  an  author  in  a  letter  addressed 
by  him  to  a  correspondent  have  been  fre- 
quently considered  by  courts  of  justice,  with 
the  general  decision  that,  while  the  author 
parts  with  the  paper  on  which  the  letter  is 
written,  he  still  retains  an  ownership  in  its 
sentiments  and  expressions.  By  this  divided 
ownership  the  receiver  is  entitled  to  the  letter 
considered  only  as  an  autograph,  while  if  he 
publishes  the  contents,  he  may  be  pursued  by 
an  action  in  court.  The  ownership  of  the  re- 
ceiver is  corporeal,  that  of  the  author  is  incor- 
poreal. In  the  same  way  if  an  author  should 
address  in  writing  a  poem  or  other  literary 
work  to  a  friend,  a  distinction  between  the 
ownership  of  the  paper  and  the  poem  would 
immediately  spring  up.  This  rule  does  not 
apply  only  to  letters  having  a  literary  charac- 
ter, as  such  distinction  could  not  be  made  and 
maintained,  so  that  in  general  a  letter  or  other 
literary  production  cannot  be  published  by  its 
receiver  or  any  other  person  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  author,  unless  it  may  be  to  vindi- 
cate the  receiver's  character  or  to  subserve  the 
ends  of  public  justice. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  clear  that  an  author 
of  a  manuscript  may  absolutely  lose  all  pro- 
prietory  rights  of  it  by  printing  it  and  placing 
copies  on  sale  without  obtaining  copyright. 


166  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

It  is  then  considered  as  dedicated  to  the  public 
and  becomes  equally  the  property  of  any  one 
who  wishes  to  use  it,  and  cannot  be  copyrighted 
in  its  original  form  by  either  the  author  or 
any  one  else. 

Literary  property  may,  in  this  state  of 
ownership,  be  assigned,  as  is  often  done  by  a 
publisher's  purchase  of  a  manuscript  from 
an  author.  This  gives  rise  to  a  distinction  be- 
tween an  author  and  a  mere  proprietor,  a  dis- 
tinction constantly  referred  to  in  the  copyright 
law.  The  sale  of  a  manuscript  will,  unless 
specific  stipulations  are  made  to  the  contrary, 
give  the  purchaser  all  rights  which  the  author 
of  it,  considered  as  an  unpublished  work,  would 
possess.  Whether  the  purchaser  could  take 
out  a  copyright  or  not  would  depend  on  special 
conditions  based  upon  the  provisions  of  the 
copyright  statutes. 

Copyright.  By  the  term  "Copyright"  is 
meant  an  exclusive  right  given  by  statu- 
tory law  to  an  author  or  proprietor  to 
multiply  copies  of  his  work  and  place 
them  on  sale.  Without  this  statutory  pro- 
tection the  act  of  publication  would  be 
regarded  by  the  courts  as  an  act  of  dedication 
of  the  work  to  the  public,  and  accordingly  de- 
structive of  the  author's  right  of  property. 
The  policy  of  the  copyright  law  is  to  give  the 
author  or  proprietor  protection  in  the  sale  of 
his  work  for  a  specified  period,  and  then  to 


EIGHTS  OF  AUTHOR  167 

throw  its  publication  open  to  all.  This  theory 
is  marked  out  in  the  United  States  Constitu- 
tion, which  gives  power  to  Congress  to  secure 
to  authors  the  exclusive  right  to  their  works 
for  "limited  times."  The  whole  subject  is 
under  the  control  of  Congress,  and  any  legisla- 
tion of  a  State  affecting  copyright  would  be 
inoperative  and  void.  The  result  is  that  if  an 
author  does  not  choose  to  publish,  his  right  to 
his  manuscript  is  perpetual,  and  may  be  vindi- 
cated in  courts  of  law  on  general  principles  of 
justice ;  if  he  prefers  to  publish,  he  brings  him- 
self within  the  purview  of  the  law  of  Con- 
gress, must  have  his  right  only  for  such  time 
as  the  statute  provides,  and  must  seek  his  rem- 
edies exclusively  in  the  United  States  courts. 
A  digest  of  the  new  copyright  law  is  given  on 
page  178,  but  it  may  be  said  here  that  in  general 
anything  may  be  copyrighted  that  is  the  sub- 
ject of  literary  ownership.  More  specifically, 
the  term  "Copyright"  is  used  applied  to  books, 
maps,  charts,  dramatic  or  musical  composi- 
tions, engravings,  cuts,  prints,  photographs  and 
their  negatives,  paintings,  drawings,  chromos, 
statues,  statuary,  and  models,  or  designs  in- 
tended to  be  perfected  as  works  of  fine  art, 
and  in  determining  whether  one  of  the  sub- 
jects can  in  any  particular  case  be  copyrighted, 
it  is  necessary  to  consider  how  far  it  is  original 
with  the  professed  author.  There  are  some 
compositions  of  such  a  profound  or  intellectual 


168  ENGINEERING  LITEEATUEE 

character  that  the  question  of  originality  can- 
not successfully  be  raised.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  are  works  of  a  much  humbler  sort,  but 
still  of  a  highly  meritorious  and  useful  nature, 
compiled  from  material  already  existing  in  lit- 
erature, and  open  for  public  investigation  and 
use,  and  in  which  the  only  original  feature  is 
in  the  selection,  arrangement,  or  combination 
of  this  material.  Instances  of  this  kind  are 
found  in  every  department  of  engineering  work 
as  well  as  in  such  works  as  grammars,  arith- 
metics, geographies,  maps,  charts,  etc.  These, 
as  far  as  they  are  the  work  of  the  compiler 
or  author,  are  the  subjects  of  copyright,  but 
he  has  no  exclusive  right  to  the  materials  which 
he  did  not  originate.  Any  other  person  may 
resort  to  them  and  prepare  a  work  from  them, 
but  he  must  not  make  use  of  the  copyrighted 
book  as  a  mode  for  collecting  his  materials. 
His  correct  course  is  a  resort  to  the  original 
sources  of  information.  An  illustration  of  these 
principles  may  be  drawn  from  the  collapse  of 
the  Quebec  Bridge  and  its  subsequent  investi- 
gation. A  writer  could  have  no  copyright  in 
the  opinions  and  findings  of  the  commission, 
as  of  these  he  is  not  the  author,  but  he  could 
lay  claim  to  a  statement  of  the  facts  of  the 
case,  as  well  as  to  an  abstract  of  the  opinions 
prepared  by  himself.  The  translator  of  a  for- 
eign work  not  the  subject  of  a  copyright  here 
may  have  a  copyright,  as  he  is  for  practical 


EIGHTS  OF  AUTHOR  169 

purposes  an  "author";  still,  any  other  person 
may  translate  the  same  work  and  have  himself 
a  copyright.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  there 
can  be  no  copyright  in  a  subject,  but  only  in 
the  means  of  treating  it.  For  example,  one  can- 
not obtain  in  this  way  the  exclusive  right  to 
make  maps  of  a  particular  town  or  section  of 
country,  though  he  might  acquire  one  as  the 
result  of  his  own  labor  and  surveys,  say,  as  a 
consulting  engineer. 

The  word  "book"  as  used  in  connection  with 
copyright,  has  a  wide  meaning — it  is  not  re- 
stricted to  volumes,  but  may  include  a  single 
sheet.  An  individual  issue  of  a  periodical  is  a 
"book."  There  can  be  no  copyright  in  a  mere 
title  unconnected  with  a  book,  but  where  a 
title  is  used  to  designate  a  work,  particularly 
a  periodical,  it  may  become  of  great  value. 
Such  a  title  constitutes  part  of  the  ' '  good  will ' ' 
of  trade  and  may  be  considered  as  a  property 
right.  Its  registration  and  protection  are  pro- 
vided for  by  the  laws  appertaining  to  "trade- 
marks." 

As  already  stated,  the  property  in  a  copy- 
right is  of  an  incorporeal  nature.  It  cannot, 
for  example,  be  seized  by  a  sheriff  and  sold  on 
an  execution.  Should  the  sheriff,  for  instance, 
sell,  in  this  way,  the  plates  of  a  copyrighted 
book,  the  purchaser  would  only  acquire  a  title 
to  the  copper-plates,  considered  as  material  ob- 


170  '  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

jects,  with  no  right  to  print  copies  of  the  book 
from  them. 

Infringement  of  Copyright.  The  leading 
questions  in  the  law  of  copyright  concern 
infringement.  The  fact  that  a  copyright 
is  of  an  exclusive  nature  necessarily  gives 
the  author  or  proprietor  a  cause  of  action 
against  one  who  infringes  his  right  by  placing 
copies  on  sale.  Infringement  is  a  very  plain 
matter  when  the  copyright  work  is  simply 
reproduced.  It  becomes  a  complicated  and 
difficult  question  when  only  extracts  or  quota- 
tions are  made,  or  when  resort  is  had  to  the 
book  to  make  the  public  acquainted  with  its 
contents  or  to  criticize  its  style  or  the  sub- 
stance of  its  thought.  It  has  long  been  estab- 
lished that  the  identity  of  a  literary  work  con- 
sists in  its  ideas  and  its  language.  The  thought 
is  so  associated  with  the  form  in  which  it  is 
expressed  that  a  copyright  does  not  protect 
an  author  against  the  use  of  his  thoughts  in  a 
substantially  different  form,  and  it  is  for  this 
reason  that  by  general  rules  of  law  the  unau- 
thorized translation  into  -  another  language  is 
no  infringement.  Though  the  sentiment  re- 
mains, the  form  is  changed.  On  similar 
grounds,  an  abridgment,  though  made  without 
the  author's  consent,  is  no  infringement.  This 
consists  of  a  condensation  of  the  author's  lan- 
guage, and  is  substantially  a  different  work. 
Where  there  is  no  such  change,  it  is  an  abuse 


RIGHTS  OF   AUTHOR  171 

of  language  to  call  the  new  work  an  "abridg- 
ment." 

The  question  arises  as  to  how  far  ex- 
tracts or  quotations  may  be  made  from  a 
book  without  infringing.  It  is  not  generally 
regarded  as  an  infringement  to  quote  from  a 
book  for  purposes  of  review,  but  when  such 
quotations  are  made,  the  main  question  is 
whether  they  are  calculated  to  show  the  char- 
acter of  the  original  work.  The  critic  must  not 
go  so  far  as  to  substantially  publish  the  copy- 
righted work.  The  question  is  really  one  of 
the  value  of  the  extracts  made,  which  must  be 
determined  by  the  facts  in  each  case.  It  is  not 
satisfactory  to  consider  merely  whether  there 
was  an  intent  to  infringe  or  steal.  The  real 
point  is:  has  the  author  sustained  substantial 
injury?  The  same  general  rule  must  be  ap- 
plied to  other  cases  where  extracts  are  made. 

There  is  a  marked  distinction  between  a  true 
abridgment  and  a  compilation,  considered  as 
an  exact  reproduction  of  material.  In  the  for- 
mer, as  has  been  said,  there  is  a  real  and  sub- 
stantial condensation  of  the  materials,  which 
has  been  made  with  intellectual  labor  and 
judgment.  In  a  compilation,  however,  there 
is  assumed  an  act  of  taking  the  very  words 
of  an  author,  or  with  such  slight  changes  as 
to  show  a  close  imitation.  The  law  permits 
the  condensation  but  does  not  permit  the  copy- 
ing of  the  author's  words  to  such  an  extent 


172  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

as  to  do  him  substantial  injury.  Compilation 
is  to  some  extent  permitted  in  works  when  the 
main  design  and  execution,  or  presentation  of 
the  subject  is  novel,  and  especially  in  dic- 
tionaries, gazetteers,  cyclopedias,  guidebooks, 
etc.  In  works  of  this  class  the  materials  must 
to  a  certain  extent  be  the  same.  Novelty  and 
improvement  in  them  consist  principally  in 
abridgment,  changes  in  arrangement,  more 
modern  information,  correction  of  errors,  etc. 
It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add  that  an  in- 
fringement takes  place  by  publishing  but  a 
small  portion  of  the  work,  if  that  be  a  vital 
part  and  causes  a  substantial  injury  to  the 
proprietor. 

The  remedies  for  the  violation  of  a  copy- 
right are  to  be  sought  in  the  federal  courts, 
and  an  appeal  may  be  taken  to  the  Supreme 
Court  without  reference  to  the  amount  in  con- 
troversy. The  regular  remedies  are  an  action 
for  damages  or  an  injunction  preventing  the 
continuance  of  the  infringement,  and  as  inci- 
dental to  this  the  courts  may  direct  an  ac- 
count to  be  taken  of  the  profits  realized  by 
the  infringer.  Severe  penalties  and  forfeitures 
are  also  imposed  by  statute  law  upon  persons 
who  wilfully  and  knowingly  violate  the  pro- 
visions of  the  copyright  acts.  (See  page  190.) 


BIGHTS  OF  AUTHOR  173 

GIVING  CREDIT  FOR  DRAFTS  ON  THE  LITERARY 
WORK  OF  OTHERS 

What  has  been  said  above  regarding  the 
use  of  the  literary  work  of  others,  refers  to  the 
rights  of  an  author  in  his  copyrighted  work, 
but  another  phase  of  the  subject  is  found  in 
the  use  of  uncopyrighted  material,  which  may 
be  said  to  be  a  matter  of  ethics. 

In  every  technical  article  of  value,  if  the 
author  has  studied  the  available  information 
upon  his  subject,  frequent  use  is  made  of  ma- 
terial which  has  been  previously  published.  The 
experienced  writer,  in  such  cases,  always  gives 
proper  credit,  either  in  a  prefatory  note  or  in 
the  text,  to  the  source  of  his  information. 
There  have  appeared,  however,  at  various 
times,  books  in  which  whole  pages  of  text  and 
numerous  drawings  have  been  either  cribbed 
entirely  or  reproduced  from  apparent  altera- 
tions. Frequent  unfavorable  comments  have 
been  made  upon  such  practices,  but  as  they 
have  not  appeared  to  be  fully  understood  by 
some  writers,  " Engineering  News"  recently 
outlined  in  an  editorial*  what  it  considered  to 
be  the  ethics  of  literary  production,  from  which 
the  following  notes  have  been  abstracted: 

As  a  first  principle  in  any  literary  work, 
technical  or  otherwise,  the  laws  of  honest  deal- 
ing require  an  acknowledgment  of  borrowed 
matter.  As  has  been  said  already,  a  man's 
literary  productions  are  as  much  his  property 


*  November  14,   1907. 


174  ENGINEERING  LITEEATUEE 

as  his  real  estate,  and  where  these  are  pro- 
tected by  copyright  their  right  is  secured  to  the 
owner,  as  effectively  as  his  house  and  lot  is 
by  a  deed  or  title.  When  such  legal  protec- 
tion is  not  invoked,  as  in  the  case  of  the  greater 
part  of  periodical  technical  literature,  it  is 
because  the  authors  or  editors  think  that  the 
matter  may  be  of  general  interest,  and  for 
that  reason,  those  so  desiring  it  should  not 
be  put  to  the  trouble  of  obtaining  specific  per- 
mission to  reproduce  it.  The  absence  of  such 
legal  requirements  does  not  change  the  owner- 
ship of  the  material  or  remove  from  the  author 
the  right  to  be  credited  for  his  labor. 

There  are  many  men  whose  only  aim  in 
literary  production  is  to  disseminate  knowl- 
edge. Such  men  have  no  especial  personal 
pride  in  their  work,  except  for  the  work's 
sake,  and  are  indifferent  as  to  the  proper  recog- 
nition by  others  who  copy  their  material,  so 
long  as  the  theory  which  they  have  evolved 
or  the  information  they  have  collected  is  given 
to  the  world.  In  such  cases  the  burden  of 
responsibility  rests  upon  the  one  who  copies. 
Any  unacknowledged  statement  in  a  book  is 
assumed  to  be  the  work  of  the  author,  and, 
even  if  the  originator  is  indifferent,  the  one 
who  repeats  it  owes  it  to  himself  to  disclaim 
the  authorship  and  to  give  credit  where  credit 
is  due.  It  is  a  poor  sort  of  a  man  who  parades 
another  man's  work  as  his  own. 


BIGHTS  OF  AUTHOR  175 

But  aside  from  the  attitude  of  common  hon- 
esty there  is  a  phase  of  the  matter  equally  as 
important  if  not  so  obvious,  which  holds  in 
technical  reproductions.  That  is  the  necessity 
of  pinning  every  fact  down  to  its  original 
source  so  that  the  future  investigator  can  have 
the  benefit  of  original  research,  if  he  so  de- 
sires. The  technical  periodical  is  an  expres- 
sion of  the  growth  of  the  profession  it  repre- 
sents. More  than  any  technical  book  does  it 
contain  the  working  out  of  the  daily  problems 
of  some  branch  of  technology.  It  is  the  ex- 
change place  of  new  ideas.  Necessarily  from 
time  to  time  certain  men,  better  versed  in  a 
particular  branch  than  their  fellows,  feel  called 
upon  to  write  a  book  upon  that  subject.  This 
book  will  be  a  compilation  of  the  results  of 
the  author's  experience  and  study,  which  study 
must  be  largely  from  the  experiences  of  other 
men,  recorded  in  some  printed  form.  No  man 
can  cover  in  his  own  experience  the  entire 
ramifications  of  any  subject,  however  small  it 
may  be.  Therefore  he  must  draw  on  the  peri- 
odical publication  which  is  the  principal  medi- 
um through  which  past  experience  may  be 
given  out,  and  as  the  matter  there  published 
must  be  more  detailed  and  discursive  than  can 
be  compacted  into  the  narrow  confines  of  a 
general  treatise,  he  can  only  draw  in  part  or 
in  abstract.  However,  the  student  may  care 
to  go  further  in  his  special  investigations  than 


176  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

the  author  could  publish  in  his  book.  To  bring 
his  book,  therefore,  to  its  highest  use,  it  is 
incumbent  upon  the  author  to  record  every 
authority  and  reference,  to  label  the  source 
of  every  piece  of  knowledge  other  than  those 
of  the  most  general  nature.  It  is  understood, 
of  course,  that  the  line  must  be  drawn  some- 
where or  else  our  books  would  be  nothing  but 
masses  of  references  to  past  work.  Where  the 
information  is  the  property  of  anyone  who 
cares  to  investigate,  such  as  is  found  in  the 
news  columns  of  our  daily  papers,  or  a  mat- 
ter of  general  knowledge  in  the  present  state 
of  the  art  or  even  the  simultaneous  publica- 
tion of  several  books  or  papers,  it  is  unneces- 
sary that  its  origin  should  be  noted.  When  it 
is  a  matter  of  exclusive  publication,  or  an 
idea  of  original  discovery,  the  needs  of  the 
future  student  require  that  the  source  should 
be  shown. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  extent  to  which 
this  practice  has  gone,  we  call  to  mind  a 
recently  published  English  book  in  which  near- 
ly half  of  the  material  is  taken  from  American 
periodicals,  no  credit  being  given  in  any  in- 
stance, though  the  matter  is  frankly  a  compila- 
tion and  the  author  is  most  punctilious  in  ac- 
knowledging his  debt  to  the  few  European 
publications  from  which  he  has  drawn.  In 
one  instance,  particularly,  he  reproduces,  with 
his  own  style  of  shading  and  lettering,  certain 


RIGHTS   OF   AUTHOR  177 

sketches  made  originaly  in  the  office  of  "En- 
gineering News"  by  members  of  its  staff; 
sketches  which  have  no  resemblance  whatever 
to  any  other  existing  drawings.  In  view  of 
the  fact  that  a  portion  of  his  material  is  duly 
accredited  to  its  proper  place,  the  only  de- 
duction of  the  reader,  ignorant  of  the  true 
facts  of  the  case,  is  that  the  remainder  of  the 
work  must  be  original.  In  addition  to  the 
dishonest  impression  thereby  given,  how  much 
more  valuable  would  be  the  book  if  the  reader 
who  wishes  to  pursue  the  investigation  could 
get  hold  of  the  matter  as  originally  explained 
in  full  in  the  much  more  detailed  accounts  of 
the  technical  press. 


XIV 


COPYRIGHT 

Copyright  is  a  right  of  property  in  a 
work,  of  a  literary,  artistic  or  illustrative  char- 
acter, by  which  the  author's,  or  other  proprie- 
tor's, ownership  in  the  work  is  protected  by 
law.  Copyright  in  the  United  States  is  granted 
by  the  Constitution  of  1787,  Art.  1  Sec.  8,  which 
states  that :  ' '  The  Congress  shall  have  power : 
To  promote  the  progress  of  science  and  useful 
arts,  by  securing  for  limited  times  to  authors 
and  inventors  the  exclusive  right  to  their  re- 
spective writings  and  discoveries."  The  pres- 
ent Copyright  Law  was  passed  by  both  Houses 
of  Congress  on  March  3 ;  it  was  signed  by  Presi- 
dent Taft  on  March  4,  and  went  into  effect  on 
July  1,  1909.  It  is  entitled  "An  Act  to  amend 
and  consolidate  the  acts  respecting  copyright, ' ' 
and  it  takes  the  place  of  the  copyright  enact- 
ments formerly  in  force.* 

*  This  digest  of  the  new  copyright  law  has  been  lim- 
ited to  those  clauses  of  special  interest  to  writers 
of  technical  books  and  periodical  articles,  who  want 
t9  know,  only  in  a  general  way,  what  may  be  copy- 
righted, how  to  secure  a  copyright,  the  cost,  and  the 
protection  afforded.  In  case  of  a  proposed  assign- 
ment of  copyright,  or  of  a  contemplated  action  for 
infringement,  or  where  further  detailed  information 
is  desired,  the  reader  is  advised  to  obtain  the  com- 
plete Copyright  Law.  from  the  Copyright  Office,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.,  which  will  be  supplied  free,  on  request. 

178 


COPYRIGHT  179 

NATURE   AND   EXTENT   OF   COPYRIGHT 
The  copyright  law  states  that  any  person  en- 
titled thereto,  upon  complying  with  the  provi- 
sions of  this  Act,  shall  have  the  exclusive  right : 

(a)  To  print,   reprint,   publish,    copy,    and 
vend  the  copyrighted  work; 

(b)  To  translate  the  copyrighted  work  in- 
to other  languages,  or  to  make  any  other  ver- 
sion thereof; 

(c)  To  deliver  or  authorize  the  delivery  of 
the  copyrighted  works  in  public  for  profit,  if  it 
be  a  lecture,  address,  or  similar  production. 

Copyright  under  this  new  law  protects  all 
the  copyrightable  component  parts  of  the  work 
copyrighted,  and  all  matter  therein  in  which 
copyright  is  already  subsisting  under  the  old 
law,  but  without  extending  the  duration  or 
scope  of  such  copyright.  The  copyright  upon 
composite  works,  such  as  encyclopedias,  dic- 
tionaries, etc.,  or  periodicals,  gives  to  the  pro- 
prietor all  the  rights  thereto  which  he  would 
have  if  each  part  were  individually  copy- 
righted. 

WHAT  MAY  BE  COPYRIGHTED 

The  works  for  which  copyright  may  be  se- 
cured include  all  the  productions  of  an  author, 
artist,  etc.,  but  the  application  for  registra- 
tion must  specify  to  which  of  the  following 
classes  the  work  in  which  copyright  is  claimed 
belongs : 


180  ENGINEERING    LITEEATUEE 

(a)  Books,1  including  composite  and  cyclo- 

pedic works,  dictionaries,  gazetteers, 
and  other  compilations ; 

(b)  Periodicals,  including  newspapers; 

(c)  Lectures,  sermons,  addresses,  etc.,  pre- 

pared for  oral  delivery; 

(d)  Dramatic   and  dramatico-musical   com- 

positions ; 

(e)  Musical  compositions; 

(f)  Maps; 

(g)  Works  of  art;  models  or  designs  for 

works  of  art; 

(h)     Reproductions  of  a  work  of  art; 
(i)      Drawings  or  plastic  works  of  a  scientific 

or  technical  character; 
(j)      Photographs, 
(k)     Prints  and  pictorial  illustrations. 

1  A  "Book"  means  a  work  of  literary  substance, 
not  simply  a  list  of  printed  words,  phrases  or  sen- 
tences. The  mere  fact  that  an  article  is  printed,  or 
that  it  is  made  up  in  the  form  of  a  book  does  not 
make  it  a  "book"  or  enable  it  to  secure  protection. 
The  work  need  not,  however,  be  entirely  original — 
very  few  technical  books  are;  it  may  consist  either 
wholly  or  in  part  of  old  material  compiled  from 
sources  common  to  all,  but  the  manner  of  presenta- 
tion of  the  material  must  be  new  and  such  that  no 
previously  existing  copyright  has  been  secured  on  the 
same  arrangement.  A  series  of  mathematical  tables 
may  be  copyrighted,  or  a  collection  of  statistics,  etc., 
but  not  a  mere  price  list  of  materials,  nor  a  book 
of  forms,  blank  agreements,  etc.,  nor  cards,  letter- 
heads or  envelopes.  A  blank  account  book  or  other 
integral  part  of  a  bookkeeping  system  cannot  be  copy- 
righted, but  a  literary  work,  explaining  the  system 
of  bookkeeping  may  be.  Further,  all  copies  published 
or  offered  for  sale  must  be  identical;  a  work  pro- 
vided with  blank  spaces  so  that  additions  can  be 
made,  making  one  coj>y  different  from  another,  does 
not  meet  the  legal  requirements.  Nor  does  the  law 
protect  the  individual  component  parts  of  a  book  or 
periodical;  the  title  alone  or  the  cover  design,  can- 
not be  copyrighted,  but  they  may,  under  certain  con- 
ditions, be  protected  by  the  law  relating  to  Trade- 
marks. A  copyright  on  a  technical  work  containing 
certain  mathematical  tables,  formulas  and  statistics, 
floes  not  give  the  author  the  exclusive  right  to  such 
material. 


COPYRIGHT  181 

The  law  provides  that  there  shall  be  no  copy- 
right on  Public  Documents,  either  in  whole  or 
in  part,  provided  the  work  is  originally  pub- 
lished by  the  Government;  but  if  the  Govern- 
ment publication  is  a  reprint  of  a  work  already 
copyrighted,  its  publication  by  the  Government 
does  not  annul  or  abridge  that  copyright,  or 
authorize  any  use  or  appropriation  of  the 
copyrighted  material  without  the  consent  of 
the  copyright  proprietor. 

WHO  MAY  OBTAIN  COPYRIGHT 

Copyright  protection  is  granted  to  an  author1 
or  proprietor2  of  any  work,  or  his  executors, 
administrators,  or  assigns ;  but  when  the  author 
or  proprietor  of  the  work  is  not  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States  copyright  is  granted  only : 

(a)  When  he  is  a  resident  of  the  United 
States  at  the  time  of  the  first  publication  of 
his  work; 

(b)  When  he  is  a  citizen  of  a  country  grant- 


1.  "Author"    includes    an    employer    in    the    case    of 
works  made  by  a  hired  writer. 

2.  An  entry  may  not  be  made  in  a  fictitious  name, 
or   a   pseudonym,    but    an    author     may     preserve     his 
anonymity   and   avoid   putting   his  name   on   record,    if 
he    so   desires,    by    arranging    to    have    some   one    else 
take   out   the   copyright   as   "Proprietor."      Entry    may 
be  made  in  the  name  of  a  firm,  corporation  or  trustee, 
or  in    two    or    more    names    as   joint    authors    or    pro- 
prietors,   and   a   "Proprietor"    may   hold   the   copyright 
in  trust  for  the  author  or  other  legal  owner. 


182  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

ing  reciprocal  copyright  rights  to  citizens  of 
the  United  States.1 

HOW  TO  SECURE  COPYRIGHT 

Publication  of  Work  with  Notice  and  Regis- 
tration of  Copyright  Work.  Any  person  en- 
titled thereto  may  secure  copyright  protection 
for  his  work  by  its  publication  with  notice  of 
copyright  imprinted  on  every  copy  published1 
and  such  person  may  obtain  registration  of 
claim  by  complying  with  the  various  condi- 
tions of  the  law,  and  upon  such  compliance, 
the  Eegister  of  Copyrights  will  issue  to  the 
claimant  a  certificate  of  copyright. 

Copyright  may  also  be  had  of  the  works  of 
an  author  of  which  copies  are  not  reproduced 
for  sale,  by  the  deposit,  with  claim  of  copyright, 
of  one  complete  copy  of  the  work  if  it  be  a 
lecture  or  similar  production;  of  a  photo- 
graphic print,  if  the  work  be  a  photograph ;  of 
a  photograph  or  other  identifying  reproduc- 
tion if  it  be  a  work  of  art,  or  a  drawing.  But 
the  securing  of  such  copyright  does  not  exempt 
the  proprietor  from  the  deposit  of  two  copies, 

1.  Reciprocal  copyright  arrangements  now  prevail 
for  the  benefit  of  authors,  in  Great  Britain  and  her 
possessions,  France,  Germany,  Switzerland,  Italy,  Den- 
mark, Portug-al,  Spain,  Mexico,  Chile,  Costa  Rica, 
Netherlands,  Cuba,  and  China.  An  American  author 
may  secure  copyright  in  these  countries  under  the 
conditions  there  prevailing.  This  is  usually  done 
through  an  agent  or  publisher  abroad  who  is  familiar 
with  the  conditions. 


COPYRIGHT  183 

where  the  work  is  later  reproduced  in  copies 
for  sale. 

Deposit  of  Copies  of  Copyright  Work.  After 
copyright  has  been  secured  by  publication  of 
the  work  with  the  proper  notice  of  copyright, 
there  must  be  promptly  deposited  in,  or  mailed 
to,  the  Copyright  Office,  addressed  to  the  Reg- 
ister of  Copyrights,  Washington,  D.  C.,  two 
complete  copies  of  the  best  edition  of  the  work 
then  published,1  which  work,  if  it  be  a  book 
or  periodical,2  must  have  been  produced  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  manufacturing  provisions 
specified  below;  or  if  the  work  be  a  contribu- 
tion to  a  periodical,  for  which  contribution 
special  registration  is  requested,  one  copy  of 
the  issue  or  issues  containing  such  contribu- 
tion;3 or  if  the  work  is  not  reproduced  in 
copies  for  sale,  there  must  be  deposited  the 
c°Py>  print,  photograph,  or  other  identifying 
reproduction  already  mentioned,  which  must 
be  accompanied  in  each  ease  by  a  claim  of 
copyright.  No  action  or  proceeding  for  in- 

1.  No  manuscript  copies  of  books  or  articles,   and 
no  original   drawings  or  paintings   should   be   sent   to 
the  Copyright  Office. 

2.  Applications   may   be   made    in    advance   for   the 
entry  of  a  number  of  issues  of  a  periodical,  by  send- 
ing the  printed   title   headings  with   the   variations  as 
to  volume,  number,  and  date  written  in  each  issue  re- 
quiring a  separate  fee,  and  separate  complete  title. 

3.  Serial  contributions  to  periodicals,  including  any 
series   of   articles   published,  at   intervals   and   under   a 
general    title,    can    be    protected   by   entering    the    title 
of  each   installment   on   or   before   the   day   of   its  pub- 
lication, and  by  making  deposit   of  copy  or  copies   as 
specified. 


184  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

fringement  of  copyright  can  be  maintained  in 
any  work  until  the  provisions  of  the  law  with 
respect  to  the  deposit  of  copies  and  registra- 
tion of  such  work  shall  have  been  complied 
with.1 

The  law  provides  that  should  these  copies 
not  be  promptly  deposited,  the  Register  of 
Copyrights  may  at  any  time  after  the  publica- 
tion of  the  work,  upon  actual  notice,  require 
the  proprietor  of  the  copyright  to  deposit  them, 
and  after  this  demand  shall  have  been  made,  in 
default  of  the  deposit  of  the  copies  of  the 
work  within  three  months  from  any  part  of  the 
United  States,  or  six  months  from  any  outly- 
ing territorial  possession  of  the  United  States, 
or  from  any  foreign  country,  the  proprietor 
shall  be  liable  to  a  fine  of  $100,  and  to  pay  to 
the  Library  of  Congress  twice  the  amount  of 
the  retail  price  of  the  best  edition  of  the  work, 
and  the  copyright  shall  become  void. 

In  case  the  books  or  other  articles  on  which 
copyright  is  claimed  are  mailed  to  the  Copy- 
right Office,  the  postmaster  to  whom  they  are 
delivered  will  give  a  receipt  for  them,  on  re- 

1.  In  the  case  of  works  published  in  more  than 
one  part  or  volume,  the  title  of  each  part  or  volume 
must  be  recorded  as  an  independent  work,  and  each 
requires  its  own  separate  deposit  of  copies  and  pay- 
ment of  fee. 


COPYEIGHT  185 

quest,  and  will  forward  them  to  their  destina- 
tion without  cost  to  the  claimant.1 

Manufacturing  Provisions.  The  printed  text 
of  a  book  or  periodical,  except  the  original 
text  of  a  book  of  foreign  origin  in  a  foreign 
language,  which  is  accorded  copyright  protec- 
tion, must  be  printed  from  type  set  by  hand 
or  machine  within  the  limits  of  the  United 
States,  or  from  plates  made  within  the  limits 
of  the  United  States,  from  type  set  therein,  and 
if  the  text  be  produced  by  a  lithographic  or 
photo-engraving  process,  then  by  a  process 
wholly  performed  within  the  United  States; 
which  requirements  extend  also  to  the  illustra- 
tions within  the  book,  if  it  consists  of  printed 
text  and  illustrations,  and  also  to  separate 
lithographs  and  photo-engravings. 

Affidavit  of  American  Manufacture.  In  the 
case  of  a  book,  the  copies  deposited  in  the 
Copyright  Office  must  be  accompanied  by  a 
sworn  affidavit  made  by  the  person  claiming 
copyright  or  by  his  duly  authorized  agent  re- 
siding within  the  United  States,  or  by  the 
printer  who  has  printed  the  book,  setting  forth 
that  the  copies  deposited  have  been  manufac- 
tured as  specified ;  such  affidavit  must  also  state 
the  place  where,  and  the  establishment  in 

1.  Owing  to  the  difficulty  of  insuring  the  receipt 
of  two  copies  of  a  newspaper  on  or  before  the  date 
of  publication,  it  is  always  advisable  to  get  the 
postmaster's  receipt,  to  serve,  in  case  of  need,  as  evi- 
dence of  the  mailing  of  these  two  copies,  'on  or  be- 
fore the  date  of  publication." 


186  ENGINEEEING  LITEKATUEE 

which  the  type  was  set  or  the  plates  made, 
where  the  printing  and  binding  was  done,  and 
the  date  of  completion  of  printing  of  the  book, 
and  the  date  of  its  publication.* 

Penalty  for  False  Affidavit.  Any  person  who, 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  registration  of  a 
claim  of  copyright,  knowingly  makes  a  false 
affidavit  as  to  having  complied  with  the  con- 
ditions of  manufacture,  is  guilty  of  a  misde- 
meanor, punishable  by  a  fine  of  not  more  than 
$1,000,  and  all  rights  and  privileges  under  said 
copyright  will  be  forfeited. 

Notice  of  Copyright.  The  notice  of  copy- 
right required  in  the  case  of  books  consists 
either  of  the  word  "Copyright,"  or  the  ab- 
breviation "Copr.,"  accompanied  by  the  name 
of  the  proprietor  and  the  year  in  which  the 
copyright  was  secured  by  publication,  which 
notice  must  be  imprinted  upon  the  title  page 
or  the  page  immediately  following.2  (See,  for 
example,  the  notice  on  page  following  title  of 
this  book.)  But  in  the  case  of  copies  of  works 
specified  above  under  subsections  (f)  to  (k), 
inclusive,  the  notice  consists  of  the  letter  C  en- 
closed within  a  circle,  thus  (C),  accompanied 

1.  "Date    of   publication"    means    the    earliest    date 
when  copies  are  placed  on  sale   or  publicly  distribut- 
ed  by   the   proprietor   of   the   copyright,    or   under   his 
authority. 

2.  In  a  periodical,   the  notice  must  be   either  upon 
the  title   page   or  upon  the  first  page  of   text  of  each 
number,  or  under  the  title  heading. 


COPYRIGHT  187 

by  the  initials,  monogram,  or  other  symbol  of 
the  proprietor,  whose  full  name  must  appear 
on  the  margin,  back,  base,  or  other  permanent 
and  accessible  portion  of  each  copy.1 

In  works  in  which  copyright  is  subsisting 
when  this  Act  went  into  effect,  the  notice  of 
copyright  may  be  either  in  one  of  these  forms, 
or  in  one  of  those  prescribed  by  the  previously 
existing  Act. 

In  case  of  the  accidental  omission,  or  an 
error  in  the  form  of  publication  of  the  copy- 
right notice,  where  the  proprietor  has  sought 
to  comply  with  the  provisions  of  the  law,  this 
omission  or  error  shall  not  invalidate  the  copy- 
right or  prevent  recovery  from  infringement 
against  any  person  who,  after  actual  notice  of 


1  It  is  customary  for  the  publisher  to  obtain  the 
copyright  when  the  book  is  printed  and  to  have  the 
legal  notice  printed  in  the  book  in  his  own  name 
rather  than  in  the  name  of  the  author,  for  various 
reasons,  one  of  the  principal  of  which  is  the  protec- 
tion of  the  copyright,  as  he  is  better  able,  as  a  rule, 
to  give  the  matter  proper  attention  than  the  author 
would  be.  This  does  not,  however,  affect  the  owner- 
ship of  the  copyright,  which  is  determined  by  the 
agreement  made  between  the  author  and  the  publish- 
er The  publisher  also  attends  to  the  copyrighting  of 
the  book  in  Great  Britain  and  other  foreign  countries, 
when  necessary.  Many  of  the  leading  publishers  have 
branch  houses  or  agents  in  Great  Britain  which  pub- 
lish there  all  the  works  published  by  the  house  in  the 
United  States  and  also  attend  to  the  formalities  of 


nre,  copyright  is  secured  by  registra- 
tion of  title  at  Stationer's  Hall,  London,  and  by  de- 
livery of  copies  of  the  work  free,  to  each  of  the  great 
public  libraries,  as  follows: 

(1)  British    Museum,    London. 

(2)  Bodleian  Library,  Oxford. 

(3)  Cambridge  University  Library. 

(4)  Advocate's  Library,   Edinburgh 

(5)  Library   of   Trinity   College,    Dublin. 

In   addition  to   this,   it   is  necessary  .to   print   on  Rhe 
title  page  of  each  copy  of  the   book      All  Rights   Re 
served."     The  fees  required  are  very  low. 


188  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

the  copyright,  begins  an  undertaking  to  in- 
fringe it;  but  it  will  prevent  the  recovery  of 
damages  against  an  innocent  infringer  who  has 
been  misled  by  the  omission  of  the  notice ;  and 
in  a  suit  for  infringement,  no  permanent  in- 
junction may  be  had  unless  the  proprietor  reim- 
burses the  innocent  infringer  his  outlay  inno- 
cently incurred,  if  the  court  so  directs. 

Ad  Interim  Copyright  protection,  Where  a 
book  is  published  abroad  in  the  English  lan- 
guage before  publication  in  the  United  States, 
an  ad  interim  copyright  may  be  secured  by  the 
deposit  in  the  Copyright  Office,  not  later  than 
thirty  days  after  its  publication  abroad,  of  one 
complete  copy  of  the  foreign  edition,  with  a 
request  for  a  reservation  of  the  copyright  and 
a  statement  of  the  name  and  nationality  of  the 
author  or  proprietor,  and  of  the  date  of  pub- 
lication of  the  book;  and  this  ad  interim  pro- 
tection will  have  the  same  force  as  given  to 
legal  copyright  for  thirty  days  after  such 
deposit. 

If,  within  this  period,  an  authorized  edition 
of  the  book  is  published  within  the  United 
States,  in  accordance  with  the  manufacturing 
conditions  specified,  and  if  the  provisions  re- 
garding deposit  of  copies,  registration,  filing 
of  affidavit,  and  the  printing  of  the  copyright 
notice  have  been  complied  with,  the  copyright 
will  be  extended  for  the  full  term  of  copyright 
protection, 


COPYRIGHT  189 

Duration  of  Copyright.  Copyright  protec- 
tion endures  for  28  years  from  the  date  of  the 
first  publication,  whether  the  copyrighted  work 
bears  the  author's  name  or  is  published  anony- 
mously or  under  an  assumed  name,  and  the 
proprietor  of  the  copyright  is  entitled  to  re- 
newal of  the  copyright  for  a  further  term  of 
28  years  when  application  for  renewal  is  made 
to  the  Copyright  Office  and  duly  registered 
therein  within  one  year  prior  to  the  expiration 
of  the  original  copyright. 

In  the  case  of  a  contribution  by  an  individ- 
ual author  to  a  periodical  or  other  composite 
work  when  such  contribution  has  been  sep- 
arately registered,  the  author  of  the  work,  if 
still  living,  or  if  not  living,  his  heirs,  executors, 
or  in  the  absence  of  a  will,  the  next  of  kin, 
is  entitled  to  a  renewal  of  the  copyright  in  such 
work  for  a  further  term  of  28  years  on  appli- 
cation, as  provided  above. 

In  default  of  the  registration  of  this  appli- 
cation for  renewal  or  extension,  the  copyright 
in  any  work  wrill  determine  at  the  expiration 
of  28  years  from  the  first  publication. 

The  copyright  subsisting  on  any  work  at  the 
time  that  this  Act  went  into  effect  may,  at  the 
expiration  of  the  original  term  of  copyright, 
be  renewed  by  the  author  of  the  work  if  still 
living,  or  if  not  living,  by  his  heirs,  executors. 
or  next  of  kin,  for  a  further  period,  such  that 
the  entire  term  shall  be  equal  to  that  secured 


190  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

by  this  Act,  including  the  renewal  period, 
provided  that  the  terms  already  specified  re- 
garding application  for  renewal  shall  have 
been  complied  with. 

Protection  of  Copyright  and  Penalties  for 
Infringement.1  If  any  person  infringes  the 
copyright  in  any  work  protected  under  the 
copyright  law,  such  person  is  liable: 

(a)  To  an  injunction  restraining  such  in- 
fringement. 

(b)  To  pay  to  the  copyright  proprietor  such 

1.  The  copyright  covers  the  plan  and  system  of  the 
work,  and  the  classification  and  arrangement  of  the 
topics,  but  a  new  edition  of  a  work  is  protected  by 
the  original  copyright  only  to  the  extent  of  the  matter 
reprinted,  new  matter  requiring  a  new  copyright  entry. 
When  a  new  edition  of  a  book  is  to  be  entered,  an 
imprint  should  be  made  on  the  title  page  to  dis- 
tinguish the  new  edition  from  the  old,  so  that  there 
will  be  no  possibility  of  confusing  the  new  entry  with 
the  former  entry,  as  might  easily  happen  if  the  title 
pages  were  exactly  alike,  and  on  the  page  following 
the  title,  the  date  of  the  new  entry  should  be  added 
to  the  former  entry,  but  should  not  replace  it. 

In  a  review  of  a  book,  the  reviewer  may  cite  largely 
from  the  original  work,  without  infringing  the  copy- 
right, if  his  desire  be  truly  to  use  the  passage  for 
the  purpose  of  fair  and  reasonable  criticism. 

In  case  of  periodical  articles  once  published,  even 
in  an  obscure  journal,  without  the  protection  of  copy- 
right, an  article  cannot  afterward  be  claimed  as  the 
property  of  the  author  or  sold  by  him.  Publication 
without  copyright  gives  a  manuscript  to  the  public, 
and  the  author  has  no  more  right  in  it  afterward  than 
anybody  else.  It  may  be  reprinted  by  anyone  without 
giving  credit  to  the  original  source,  but  it  is  a  cus- 
tomary rule  in  journalism  to  give  credit  in  the  case 
of  all  matter  clearly  original.  In  the  case  of  a  copy- 
righted periodical,  however,  permission  must  be  se- 
cured before  an  article  can  be  safely  reprinted  in  full. 
Ordinarily  a  portion  of  an  article  may  be  safely  re- 
printed without  expressed  permission  if  credit  be 
given.  In  fact,  publishers  of  periodicals  welcome  the 
reprinting  of  such  extracts  as  they  look  on  it  as  use- 
ful advertising,  and  often  they  go  to  considerable 
expense  to  place  articles  in  the  hands  of  exchange 
editors  and  to  make  it  easy  for  them  to  copy.  Seldom 
is  there  any  objection  to  reprinting  short  articles  in 
full,  bvit  proper  credit  should  always  be  given  both 
to  the  author  and  the  publication. 


COPYRIGHT  191 

damages  as  he  may  have  suffered  due  to  the 
infringement,  as  well  as  all  the  profits  which 
the  infringer  has  made  from  his  infringement ; 
and  in  proving  profits  the  plaintiff  is  required 
to  prove  sales  only  and  the  defendant  is  re- 
quired to  prove  every  element  of  cost  which 
he  claims.  In  lieu  of  actual  damages  and 
profits  the  infringer  is  liable  for  such  dam- 
ages as  to  the  court  shall  appear  to  be  just, 
and  in  assessing  such  damages,  the  court  may 
allow  the  amounts  stated  below,  but  in  no 
case  shall  such  damages  exceed  $5,000,  nor  be 
less  than  $250,  except  in  the  case  of  a  news- 
paper reproduction  of  a  copyrighted  photo- 
graph, where  such  damages  shall  not  exceed 
$200,  nor  be  less  than  $50.  For  every  infring- 
ing copy  made,  or  sold  by,  or  found  in  the 
possession  of,  the  infringer  or  his  agents  or 
employees,  there  will  be  an  allowance  of 
$1.00.  In  the  case  of  a  lecture  or  address, 
there  will  be  an  allowance  for  damages  of  $50 
for  each  infringing  delivery. 

(c)  To  deliver  up  on  oath,  to  be  impounded 
during  the  pendency  of  the  action,  upon  such 
terms  and  conditions   as  the   court  may  pre- 
scribe, all  articles  alleged  to  infringe  a  copy- 
right. 

(d)  To  deliver  up  on  oath  for  destruction, 
all  the  infringing  copies  or  devices,  as  well  as 
all  plates,   moulds,  matrices,   or  other   means 


192  ENGINEEEING  LITEKATURE 

for  making  such  infringing  copies,  as  the  court 
may  order. 

Any  person  who  willfully  infringes  any 
copyright  secured  by  this  Act  or  who  know- 
ingly abets  such  infringement,  is  guilty  of  a 
misdemeanor,  punishable  by  imprisonment  for 
a  term  not  exceeding  one  year,  or  by  a  fine 
of  not  less  than  $100  nor  more  than  $1,000,  or 
both,  at  the  discretion  of  the  court. 

Any  person  who,  with  fraudulent  intent,  in- 
serts notice  of  copyright  as  required  by  the 
law,  or  words  of  the  same  purport,  in  or  upon 
any  uncopyrighted  article,  or  removes  or  alters 
the  copyright  notice  upon  any  article  duly 
copyrighted,  is  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor  pun- 
ishable by  a  fine  of  not  less  than  $100  nor  more 
than  $1,000.  Any  person  who  knowingly 
issues  or  sells  any  article  bearing  a  notice  of 
United  States  copyright  which  has  not  been 
copyrighted  in  this  country,  or  who  knowingly 
imports  any  article  bearing  such  notice,  or 
words  of  same  purport,  which  has  not  been 
copyrighted  in  this  country,  is  liable  to  a  fine 
of  $100. 

The  importation  into  the  United  States  of 
any  article  bearing  a  false  notice  of  copyright 
when  there  is  no  existing  copyright  thereon  in 
this  country,  or  of  any  piratical  copies  of  any 
work  copyrighted  in  the  United  States,  is  pro- 
hibited. 

During  the  existence  of  the  American  copy- 


COPYRIGHT  193 

right  in  any  book,  the  importation  into  the 
United  States  of  any  piratical  copies  thereof, 
or  of  any  copies  thereof  (although  authorized 
by  the  author  or  proprietor)  which  have  not 
been  produced  in  accordance  with  the  manu- 
facturing provisions  of  this  Act,  or  any  plates 
of  the  same  not  made  from  type  set  within  the 
limits  of  the  United  States,  is  prohibited.  But, 
except  as  regards  piratical  copies,  such  prohi- 
bition does  not  apply: 

(a)  To  a  foreign  newspaper  or  magazine, 
although  containing  matter  copyrighted  in  the 
United  States,  unless  such  newspaper  contains 
matter  printed  or  reprinted  without  authority 
of  the  proprietor; 

(b)  To  the  authorized  edition  of  a  foreign 
book  of  which  only  a  translation  in  English 
has  been  copyrighted  in  the  United  States; 

(c)  To  any  book  published  abroad  with  the 
authorization  of  the  author  or  proprietor  when 
imported  under  any  of  the  following  circum- 
stances : 

When  imported,  not  more  than  one  copy  at 
a  time,  for  individual  use  and  not  for  sale ;  but 
such  privilege  of  importation  shall  not  extend 
to  a  foreign  reprint  of  a  book  by  an  American 
author  copyrighted  in  United  States. 

When  imported  for  use  and  not  for  sale,  not 
more  than  one  copy  at  a  time,  by  or  for,  any 
library,  college,  school,  or  institution  incor- 


194  ENGINEEEING  LITEEATUKE 

porated  for  educational,  literary,  scientific,  or 
religious  purposes. 

When  such  books  form  parts  of  collections 
purchased  en  bloc  for  the  use  of  societies,  in- 
stitutions, libraries,  etc.,  or  form  parts  of  the 
libraries  or  personal  baggage  of  persons  arriv- 
ing from  foreign  countries  and  which  are  not 
intended  for  sale. 

But  copies  imported  as  above  may  not  law- 
fully be  used  in  any  way  to  violate  the  rights 
of  the  proprietor  of  the  American  copyright 
or  annul  or  limit  his  copyright  protection,  and 
such  use,  although-  lawful,  will  be  deemed  an 
infringement  of  copyright. 

Any  and  all  articles  prohibited  importation 
as  specified,  and  brought  into  the  United  States 
from  any  foreign  country  (except  in  the 
mails),  will  be  seized  and  forfeited,  but  all 
copies  of  authorized  editions  of  copyrighted 
books  imported  in  the  mails  or  otherwise,  in 
violation  of  these  provisions,  may  be  returned 
to  the  country  of  export,  when  it  is  shown  that 
such  importation  did  not  involve  wilful  neg- 
ligence or  fraud. 

No  criminal  proceeding  can  be  maintained 
unless  the  same  is  commenced  within  three 
years  after  the  cause  of  the  action  arose. 

Assignment  of  Copyright.  Copyright  is  dis- 
tinct from  the  property  in  the  material  object 
copyrighted,  and  the  sale  or  conveyance,  by 
gift  or  otherwise,  of  the  material  object  does 


COPYRIGHT  195 

not  of  itself  constitute  a  transfer  of  the  copy- 
right, nor  does  the  assignment  of  the  copy- 
right constitute  a  transfer  of  the  title  to  the 
material  object.  Copyright  may  be  assigned, 
granted,  mortgaged,  or  may  be  bequeathed  by 
will.  Every  assignment  of  copyright  must  be 
recorded  in  the  Copyright  Office  within  three 
months  after  its  execution  in  the  United  States 
or  within  six  months  after  its  execution  out- 
side the  United  States.  When  an  assignment 
in  the  copyright  on  a  specified  book  or  other 
w^ork  has  been  recorded,  the  assignee  may 
substitute  his  name  for  that  of  the  assignor 
in  the  statutory  notice  of  copyright. 

Copyright  Registration.  When  deposit  has 
been  made  in  the  Copyright  Office  of  copies 
of  any  work,  an  entry  is  made  in  the  record 
books  of  the  Register  of  Copyrights,  and  in  the 
case  of  each  entry,  the  person  recorded  as 
claimant  of  the  copyright  is  entitled  to  a  cer- 
tificate of  registration,  containing  his  name 
and  address,  the  title  of  the  work  upon  which 
copyright  is  claimed,  the  date  of  the  deposit 
of  copies,  and  such  marks  as  to  class  designa- 
tion and  entry  numbers  as  shall  fully  identify 
the  entry.  In  the  case  of  a  book  the  certificate 
also  states  the  receipt  of  the  affidavit  regarding 
manufacture,  and  the  date  of  the  completion 
of  the  printing,  or  the  date  of  the  publication 
of  the  book,  as  stated  in  the  affidavit.  This 
certificate  will  be  admitted  in  any  court  as 


196  ENGINEERING  LITEKATUKE 

prima  facie  evidence  of  the  facts  stated  therein. 
In  addition  to  this  certificate,  the  Register  of 
Copyrights  will  furnish,  on  request,  and  with- 
out additional  fee,  a  receipt  for  the  copies  of 
the  work  deposited  to  complete  the  registra- 
tion. 

The  record  books  of  the  Copyright  Office, 
together  with  indexes  to  the  records  and  to  all 
works  deposited  and  retained  in  the  Copyright 
Office,  are  open  to  public  inspection,  and  copies 
may  be  taken  of  the  copyright  entries  actually 
made  in  the  books. 

Copyright  Fees.  The  fees  payable  to  the 
Register  of  Copyrights  by  the  persons  to  whom 
the  services  designated  are  rendered  are  as 
follows : 

For  registration  of  any  work  subject  to  copy- 
right, deposited  under  provisions  of  this  Act 
—$1.00;  which  sum  includes  a  certificate  of 
registration  under  seal;  but  in  the  case  of  a 
photograph,  the  fee  shall  be  50  cents,  when 
a  certificate  is  not  demanded. 
For  every  additional  certificate  of  registration 

made* — 50  cents. 

For  recording  and  certifying  any  instrument 
of  writing  for  the  assignment  of  copyright, 
or  for  any  copy  of  such  assignment,  if  not 
over  300  words  in  length— $1.00. 

More  than  300  and  less  than  1,000  words — 
$2.00. 

More  than  1,000  words,  $1  additional  for 


COPYRIGHT  REGISTRATION  197 

each  1,000  words  or  fraction  thereof,  over  300 
words. 

For  comparing  any  copy  of  assignment  with 
the  record  of  such  document  in  the  Copy- 
right Office  and  certifying  the  same  under 
seal— $1.00. 

For  recording  the  renewal  or  extension  of 
copyright — 50  cents. 

For  recording  the  transfer  of  the  proprietor- 
ship of  copyrighted  article — 10  cents  for 
each  title  of  a  book  or  other  article  in  addi- 
tion to  the  fee  prescribed  for  recording  the 
instrument  of  assignment. 

For  any  requested  search  of  Copyright  Office 
records,  indexes,  or  deposits — 50  cents  for 
each  full  hour  of  time  consumed  in  making 
such  search. 

STEPS    NECESSARY    TO    PROCURE    COPYRIGHT 
REGISTRATION 

Abstracted  from  Copyright  Office  Circ.  No.  35. 
For  Works  Reproduced  in   Copies   for  Sale. 

1.  Publish  the  work  with  the  copyright  no- 
tice.   The  notice  may  be  in  the  form,  "Copy- 
right,  19 (year  date   of  publication)    by 

(name  of  copyright 

proprietor)." 

2.  Promptly  after  publication,  send  to  the 
Copyright  Office  two  copies  of  the  best  edition 


198  E-NGINEEEING  LITERATURE 

of  the  work,1  with  an  application  for  regis- 
tration and  a  money  order  payable  to  the 
Register  of  Copyrights  for  the  statutory  regis- 
tration fee  of  $1.  As  to  special  fee  for  regis- 
tration of  photographs,  see  below. 

In  the  case  of  books  the  copies  deposited 
must  be  accompanied  by  an  affidavit,  under  the 
official  seal  of  an  officer  authorized  to  admin- 
ister oaths,  stating  that  the  type-setting,  print- 
ing, and  binding  of  the  books  have  been  per- 
formed within  the  United  States.  Affidavit  and 
application  forms  will  be  supplied  by  the  Copy- 
right Office  on  request. 

For  Works  Not  Reproduced  in  Copies  for 
Sale.  Copyright  may  also  be  had  of  certain 
classes  of  works  (see  a,  b,  c,  p.  199)  of  which 
copies  are  not  reproduced  for  sale,  by  filing  in 
the  Copyright  Office  an  application  for  regis- 
tration, with  the  statutory  fee  of  $1,  sending 
therewith : 


1.  A  work  becomes  the  property  of  the  public  by 
publication,  and  the  exclusive  property  of  the  author 
in  it  ceases  as  soon  as  by  publication  it  has  become 
the'  property  of  the  public,  unless  he  has  complied 
with  the  requirements  of  the  statute  and  secured  a 
copyright.  Permission  to  make  a  copy  of  a  manu- 
script is  not  publication;  neither  is  the  delivery  of  a 
lecture  or  address.  There  are  cases  in  which  the  con- 
clusion that  printing-  "for  private  circulation"  has 
been  held  as  publication,  and  other  cases  to  the  con- 
trary. In  practice,  "publication"  is  supposed  to  take 
place  when  the  book  is  advertised  or  offered  to  the 
public  at  a  price,  as  a  sale  naturally  infers  publica- 
tion. 

Remittances  should  always  be  made  by  Money  Order, 
payable  to  the  Register  of  Copyrights.  No  money 
(currency  or  coin)  postage  stamps  or  personal  checks, 
should  be  placed  in  any  letter  or  other  matter  sent  to 
the  Copyright  Office. 

It  is  best  to  mail  together  in  one  parcel;  the  work 
to  be  registered,  the  application  blank,  affidavit  (when 
necessary)  and  money  order. 


COPYRIGHT  APPLICATION  FORMS          199 

(a)  In  the  case  of  lectures  or  other  oral 

addresses,  one  complete  manuscript 

or  typewritten  copy  of  the  work. 

This  privilege  of  registration,  however,  does 

not  exempt  the  copyright  proprietor  from  the 

deposit  of  printed  copies  of  a  lecture  where 

the  work  is  later  reproduced  in  copies  for  sale. 

(b)  In   the    case    of   photographs   not   in- 

tended for  general  circulation,  one 
photographic  print. 

(c)  In  the  case  of  works  of  art  (paintings, 

drawings,  sculpture) ;  or  of  drawings 
or  plastic  works  of  a  scientific  or 
technical  character,  one  photograph 
or  other  identifying  reproduction  of 
the  work. 

Fees,  The  statutory  fee  for  registration  of 
any  work  is  one  dollar,  including  a  certificate 
of  registration  under  seal.  In  the  case  of  a 
photograph,  if  a  certificate  is  not  demanded, 
the  fee  is  fifty  cents.  In  the  case  of  several 
volumes  of  the  same  book  deposited  at  the 
same  time,  only  one  registration  at  one  fee  is 
required. 

APPLICATION  FORMS 

Abstracted  from  Copyright  Office  Circ.  No.  12. 
Applicants  for  copyright  registration  under 
the  new  law,  are  requested  to  use  application 
forms  furnished  on  request  by  the  Copyright 
Office. 


200  ENGINEEEING  LITEBATUKE 

A  separate  form  should  be  used  for  each 
work  to  be  entered. 

Requests  for  forms  should  specify  the  num- 
ber and  kind  of  forms  desired,  selected  from 
the  following  list: 

Books — For  a  book  written  by  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States,  ask  for  "Application  Form 
A1,"  and  "Affidavit  Form,"  specifying  in  the 
request  whether  the  book  is  to  be  printed  from 
type  or  plates  made  from  type  or  is  to  be  pro- 
duced by  lithographic  or  photo-engraving 
process. 

For  a  book  written  by  a  citizen  of  a  foreign 
country,  printed  in  the  United  States,  ask  for 
"Application  Form  A1  Foreign." 

For  a  new  edition  of  a  book  by  a  citizen  or 
resident  of  the  United  States,  ask  for  "Appli- 
cation Form  New  Ed." 

For  the  American  edition  of  a  book  in  the 
English  language  on  which  ad  interim  copy- 
right has  been  previously  secured,  ask  for 
"Application  Form  A2,"  and  "Affidavit 
Form,"  specifying  in  the  request  whether  the 
book  is  to  be  printed  from  type  or  plates  made 
from  type  or  is  to  be  produced  by  lithographic 
or  photo-engraving  process. 

For  a  book  by  a  foreign  author  in  a  foreign 
language,  ask  for  "Application  Form  A3." 

For  ad  interim  copyright  on  a  book  pub- 
lished abroad  in  the  English  language,  ask  fpr 
"Application  Form  A4." 


COPYRIGHT  APPLICATION  FORMS         201 

For  a  contribution  to  a  newspaper  or  period- 
ical, ask  for  "Application  Form  A5." 

Periodicals — If  it  is  desired  to  make  a  sep- 
arate application  and  remittance  as  each  issue 
appears,  ask  for  "Application  Form  BV  If 
it  is  desired  to  file  a  general  application  in 
advance  and  to  deposit  therewith  a  sum  to 
cover  the  fees  for  several  issues,  ask  for  "Ap- 
plication Form  B2." 

For  a  Lecture  or  Address  for  oral  delivery, 
ask  for  "Application  Form  C." 

Maps — For  a  published  map,  ask  for  "Ap- 
plication Form  F." 

Drawing  or  Plastic  Work — For  a  drawing 
or  plastic  work  of  a  scientific  or  technical  char- 
acter, ask  for  "Application  Form  I." 

Photographs — For  a  photograph  published 
for  sale,  ask  for  "Application  Form  J1." 

For  a  photograph  not  to  be  published,  ask 
for  "Application  Form  J2." 

Prints  or  Pictorial  Illustrations — For  the  reg- 
istration of  any  "print"  or  "pictorial  illustra- 
tion," which  is  a  printed  picture,  complete  in 
itself  and  having  artistic  quality,  ask  for  "Ap- 
plication Form  K. ' ' 

Affidavit  Forms — For  a  separate  affidavit 
form  to  be  filed  with  copies  of  a  book  printed 
from  type  set  within  the  United  States  or  from 
plates  made  therefrom,  ask  for  "Affidavit 
Form  A1." 

For  a  separate  affidavit  form  to  be  filed  with 


2C2  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

copies  of  a  book  produced  by  lithographic  or 
photo-engraving  process  wholly  performed 
within  the  United  States,  ask  for  "  Affidavit 
Form  A2." 

Renewal  or  Extension — For  the  renewal  of 
copyright  subsisting  in  any  work  for  the  new 
renewal  term  of  28  years  as  provided  by  the 
new  law,  available  only  for  works  originally 
entered  since  July  1,  1881,  ask  for  "  Renewal 
Form  RV 

For  the  extension  of  an  existing  renewal 
term  from  14  years  as  provided  under  the  old 
law,  to  28  years  granted  by  the  new  law, 
available  only  for  works  already  renewed 
under  the  old  law  since  July  1,  1895,  ask  for 
"  Extension  Form  R2." 

(These  renewal  forms  can  only  be  used 
within  a  period  of  one  year  prior  to  the  expira- 
tion of  the  existing  term.) 

No  forms  are  issued  by  the  Copyright  Office 
for  assignments,  or  licenses,  nor  for  Postmas- 
ter's receipts  for  articles  deposited. 


XV 

RELATIONS  BETWEEN  AUTHOR  AND 
PUBLISHER 

Choosing  a  Publisher.  When  the  manuscript 
is  completed,  the  question  of  publication  arises. 
An  author  may  publish  his  book  himself  or  he 
may  have  it  published  by  a  publishing  house, 
but  the  latter  course  is  the  more  common  and 
advisable  for  several  very  good  reasons.  Pub- 
lication of  a  book  involves  a  knowledge  of  the 
technical  features  of  bookmaking  that  only 
experience  can  teach ;  it  involves  dealings  with 
several  distinct  classes  of  people;  it  involves 
a  knowledge  of  how  to  market  the  book,  and 
facilities  of  some  kind  for  handling  it.  There 
may  be  exceptional  cases  where  an  author  has 
the  business  experience,  the  special  knowledge, 
and  the  facilities,  as  well  as  the  necessary  finan- 
cial backing,  for  the  production  and  sale  of 
his  work;  yet  even  in  these  cases  the  balance 
of  favor  is  with  the  publisher.  The  work  con- 
nected with  the  publication  of  his  own  book 
would  necessarily  take  considerable  time  and 
attention  from  his  regular  vocation,  and  it  is 
doubtful  if  this  would  be  repaid  by  the  small 
extra  profit  that  might  possibly  result.  The 
publisher  has  the  facilities,  financially  and 
203 


204  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

otherwise,  for  the  proper  manufacture  of  the 
book,  takes  on  himself  the  entire  burden  of 
advertising  it,  handling  it,  carrying  stock,  etc., 
leaving  the  author  free  to  devote  his  time  to 
his  own  regular  calling. 

"Whether  the  publication  of  the  book  by  a 
publisher  or  by  the  author  himself  yields  the 
greater  financial  returns  is  an  oft-recurring 
question  and  there  have  been  good  arguments 
on  each  side  of  the  case.  On  the  one  side, 
when  the  book  is  published  on  a  royalty  basis, 
the  publisher  usually  bears  the  cost  of  produc- 
tion and  selling,  advancing  all  the  money  neces- 
sary, and  thus  claims  that  he  bears  the  entire 
risk  and  expense.  On  the  other  hand,  in  any 
arrangement  where  the  returns  to  the  author 
depend  on  the  sale  of  the  book,  the  author  may 
argue  that  he  certainly  shares  the  risk,  and 
further  that  after  putting  many  weeks  or 
months  or  perhaps  years  into  the  work,  he 
may  have  to  wait  months  before  he  gets  any 
returns  on  his  labor.  This  question  is  one 
that  has  had  much  consideration  and  one  over 
which  there  have  been  bitter  feelings  aroused 
at  times  between  authors  and  publishers,  but 
those  in  positions  to  know  from  experience  will 
realize  that  the  question  involves  too  many 
features  to  permit  of  a  general  solution.  Book 
publishing  is  different  in  many  ways  from 
other  classes  of  mercantile  business  and  there 
are  too  many  considerations  connected  with  the 


AUTHOR  AND  PUBLISHER  205 

marketing  of  the  book  to  make  it  a  certainty 
that  any  particular  book  will  be  a  financial  suc- 
cess before  it  is  actually  offered  for  sale.  To 
the  writer's  knowledge  many  likely  books  have 
proved  utter  failures  and  have  brought  consid- 
erable financial  loss  to  the  publisher ;  also  many 
books  originally  published  by  authors  with  the 
expectation  of  reaping  a  financial  harvest,  and 
which  have  failed  on  the  ground  of  salesman- 
ship, have  proved  successful  when  turned  over 
to  a  publisher.  It  is  perfectly  natural  that  the 
publisher,  with  his  experience,  knowledge,  or- 
ganization, and  credit,  and  with  an  established 
reputation,  should  be  able  to  handle  this  class 
of  work  to  greater  advantage  than  a  man  with- 
out these  fundamental  essentials.  Further,  he 
is  in  a  position  to  advertise  the  book  in  a  man- 
ner that  modesty  would  often  prohibit  in  the 
case  of  the  author-publisher,  by  describing  the 
author's  professional  work,  and  otherwise 
showing  him  to  the  public  as  an  authority  on 
his  subject. 

The  question  of  financial  returns  is  too  large 
to  take  up  in  detail,  but  all  things  considered, 
it  is  advantageous  for  an  author  to  have  his 
book  issued  by  one  of  the  regular  and  recog- 
nized publishing  houses.  Having,  then,  decided 
on  this  method  of  publication,  two  considera- 
tions immediately  arise:  the  proper  publisher 
and  the  terms  of  publication. 

An  article  for  a  periodical  may  be  submitted 


206  ENGINEEKING  LITEEATUEE 

in  its  entirety  or  in  summary  form  mentioned 
on  page  211,  to  any  periodical  whose  field  in- 
cludes the  branch  of  the  profession  to  which 
the  article  relates.  If  it  proves  of  interest  and 
is  properly  prepared,  it  will  find  acceptance. 
Many  contributions  are  sent  to  the  periodicals 
without  expectation  of  payment,  but  where 
compensation  is  expected,  it  is  well  to  mention 
the  fact  in  the  note  accompanying  the  manu- 
script. If  no  such  mention  is  made,  the  editor 
has  a  right  to  think  that  no  compensation  is 
expected.  In  regard  to  payments,  some  peri- 
odicals pay  for  articles  soon  after  publication 
— and  some  do  not.  It  is  not  customary  for  an 
author  to  send  a  bill,  but  if  no  remittance  is 
received  within  a  reasonable  time,  say  one  full 
month  after  publication  of  the  article,  the 
author  is  justified  in  asking  for  an  explanation 
or  as  to  when  a  remittance  may  be  expected. 

A  different  procedure  is  customary  in  con- 
nection with  book  manuscripts,  both  in  the 
method  of  their  submission  to  publishers  and 
in  the  method  of  payment  for  the  rights  of 
publication.  If  the  writer  has  an  established 
reputation  he  will  have  no  difficulty  in  placing 
his  work  to  advantage,  in  fact,  there  will  be 
competition  among  publishers  for  it.  The  same 
might  be  said  of  a  manuscript  treating  of  a 
branch  of  engineering  on  which  there  is  little 
published  literature,  when  the  author  occupies 
a  position  that  warrants  his  having  a  reliable 


AUTHOR  AND  PUBLISHER  207 

knowledge  of  the  subject.  This  holds  good  of 
both  book  and  periodical  literature.  But  where 
an  author  is  practically  unknown  to  the  pub- 
lishing world  and  he  has  had  no  previous  deal- 
ings with  publishers,  and  no  recognized  stand- 
ing as  an  authoritative  writer,  there  are  sev- 
eral considerations  of  which  he  must  take  cog- 
nizance in  his  selection  of  a  publisher  and  be- 
fore he  parts  with  his  rights  in  the  manuscript. 
In  the  first  place  there  are  but  few  pub- 
lishers who  specialize  in  engineering  literature 
as  compared  with  those  who  handle  fiction  or 
general  literature;  the  difference  in  the  me- 
thods of  publishing  and  in  reaching  the  trade 
make  this  class  of  literature  a  specialty.  An 
author  should  first  ascertain  who  the  publishers 
of  engineering  literature  are  and  should  make 
sure  to  associate  himself  with  a  reputable  con- 
cern only ;  one  having  the  confidence  of  the  pro- 
fession in  its  output,  and  having  a  financial 
standing  that  guarantees  the  proper  manufac- 
ture and  sale  of  the  book  and  the  payments 
of  royalties.  He  should  beware  of  the  houses 
that  offer  large  royalties — they  cannot  pay 
them.  If  the  author  himself  does  not  know 
who  the  high-class  publishers  are,  he  can  get 
the  names  from  any  one  of  the  engineering 
societies  and  only  those  concerns  that  are 
known  to  the  profession  should  be  considered. 
Their  financial  standing  can  be  ascertained  at 
a  trifling^  cost  by  application  for  a  report  to 


208  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

any  one  of  the  large  commercial  agencies,  such 
as  Dun's  and  Bradstreet's. 

The  Literary  Agent,  Instead  of  handling 
this  matter  himself  and  dealing  direct  with 
the  publisher,  the  author  may  place  his  manu- 
script with  a  literary  agent.  The  literary 
agent  is  a  go-between ;  he  takes  the  manuscript 
from  an  author  and  places  it  with  a  publisher 
on  the  best  possible  basis,  taking  all  the  troubles 
and  annoyances  of  direct  dealing  from  the 
shoulders  of  the  author.  He  examines  the  man- 
uscript sufficiently  to  enable  him  to  decide 
upon  the  best  house  to  offer  it  to.  He  does 
not  offer  an  engineering  treatise  to  a  publisher 
of  fiction,  nor  a  book  on  electro-metallurgy  or 
mining  to  a  house  limiting  itself  to  civil  en- 
gineering works.  Of  several  houses  handling 
that  particular  class  of  book,  his  special  know- 
ledge of  publishers  and  of  their  terms  and 
methods  enables  him  to  select  the  one  that 
is  most  energetic  in  pushing  its  sales  and  which 
has  behind  it  a  reputation  for  reliability.  Many 
a  good  book  has  had  a  small  circulation  from 
lack  of  energetic  salesmanship,  with  the  con- 
sequent small  financial  returns  to  both  the 
author  and  the  publisher.  Then  the  agent 
knows  just  how  to  offer  the  book  to  each  par- 
ticular publisher,  and  can  often  get  into  direct 
touch  with  the  right  man  where  the  author 
would  have  to  conduct  his  dealings  entirely  by 
mail  and  probably  through  subordinates.  Thus 


AUTHOR  AND  PUBLISHER  209 

the  agent  takes  from  the  author  the  business 
end  of  placing  his  manuscript,  leaving  the  lat- 
ter free  to  devote  himself  to  his  regular  occu- 
pation without  the  misunderstandings,  delays, 
and  worries  which  he  finds  are  the  more  vexa- 
tious because  he  has  not  had  the  experience 
necessary  to  cope  with  them. 

When  the  book  has  been  examined  and 
found  acceptable  by  the  publisher,  the  agent 
arranges  terms,  making  the  best  arrangement 
the  manuscript  and  the  conditions  warrant. 
Later,  if  desired  by  the  author,  he  collects  the 
royalties  as  they  fall  due,  takes  out  his  com- 
mission and  remits  the  balance  to  the 
author,  with  complete  statement  of  the  sales 
of  his  book,  thus  enabling  the  author  to  avoid 
dealings  with  any  house  which  has  a  reputa- 
tion for  sharp  practices.  The  literary  agent 
can  render  valuable  services  to  each  party,  but 
more  often  the  dealings  between  the  author 
and  the  publisher  are  carried  on  directly,  with- 
out any  intermediary. 

Submission  of  the  Manuscript.  In  submit- 
ting the  manuscript  to  the  publisher  for  ex- 
amination, nothing,  as  a  rule,  is  gained  by  its 
personal  delivery.  It  should,  and  in  the  end 
it  must,  speak  for  itself ;  the  writer  confers  no 
favor  on  the  publisher  by  submitting  the  manu- 
script to  him  nor  does  the  publisher  confer  a 
favor  upon  the  author  by  its  acceptance.  It 
is  entirely  a  matter  of  business  and  is  more 


210  ENGINEERING  LITEEATUEE 

likely  to  be  successful  if  carried  out  in  an  en- 
tirely impersonal  manner.  The  quality  of  the 
material  is  the  ultimate  test  of  its  acceptance. 
Personal  acquaintance  with  a  publisher  or  per- 
sonal explanations  of  the  circumstances  con- 
nected with  the  writing  of  the  manuscript  are 
not  necessary  or  even  useful,  except  to  the  ex- 
tent of  the  information  they  convey  as  to  the 
author's  professional  position  and  in  cases 
where  business  information  is  given,  to  the 
extent  of  letting  the  publisher  know  that  he 
has  authority  to  use  this  information. 

Some  authors,  desirous  of  making  a  good 
impression  by  the  general  outward  appearance 
of  their  manuscripts,  have  them  bound.  This  is 
a  mistake  as  the  manuscript  reader  does  not 
want  to  hold  the  entire  work  at  one  time  while 
examining  it;  if  the  sheets  are  loose  he  can 
take  them  up  separately  and  can  more  easily 
refer  to  any  special  part  of  the  work  desired 
for  comparisons.  Further,  the  manuscript  can- 
not be  edited  or  sent  to  the  printer  in  that  way 
so  in  case  of  its  acceptance  it  must  be  separated 
before  sending  it  to  the  printer.  Between  two 
manuscripts  of  equal  literary  value,  the  bound 
runs  a  far  greater  chance  of  rejection  than 
the  unbound,  on  account  of  these  difficulties  in 
examination. 

In  all  cases  the  manuscript  should  be  sent 
flat  and  accompanied  by  the  drawings  or  illus- 
trations as  already  stated  on  page  128.  It  may 


AUTHOK  AND  PUBLISHER  211 

be  well  before  submitting  the  manuscript  it- 
self, for  the  author  to  send  a  form  of  title  page 
(which  may  subsequently  be  modified  by  tech- 
nical considerations),  and  a  complete  table  of 
contents  or  summary  list  of  chapter  headings 
and  other  description  of  the  work,  to  the  pub- 
lisher, asking  if  submission  of  the  complete 
manuscript  would  be  welcomed.  This  would 
save  time  in  first  consideration,  and  make  a 
good  impression  on  the  publisher,  and  save 
much  expense  and  annoyance  to  the  author 
himself.  In  such  a  preliminary  letter,  how- 
ever, too  much,  or  in  fact,  any,  argument  re- 
garding the  possible  selling  qualities  of  the 
book  (unless  it  is  written  by  an  expert  who 
knows)  may  make  an  unfavorable  impression, 
as  it  is  the  business  of  the  publisher  to  decide 
whether  the  book  will  sell  or  not.  Bulky  manu- 
scripts should  be  sent  by  express,  and  should 
be  insured,  as  in  case  of  loss  the  value  can  be 
collected.  Publishers  are  not  responsible  for 
the  loss  of  manuscript  except  in  cases  wrhere 
loss  is  due  to  their  own  carelessness  or  neglect. 
When  the  parcel  runs  into  several  pounds 
weight,  the  cost  of  transportation  by  express 
is  much  less  than  when  sent  by  mail.  It  is 
always  well  to  notify  the  publisher  by  separate 
letter  of  the  despatch  and  the  method  of  ship- 
ment of  a  manuscript  at  the  time  of  shipment. 
The  author's  rights  in  his  manuscript  have 
been  discussed  in  another  chapter  from  the 


212  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

point  of  view  of  professional  ethics  and  in- 
fringement of  copyright,  but  there  is  another 
phase  of  the  subject  that  should  be  taken  up 
in  this  place.  That  is  his  rights  in  case  of  loss 
of  his  manuscript  by  fire  or  otherwise ;  also  the 
question  of  how  long  an  editor  or  publisher 
may  retain  a  manuscript  without  putting  him- 
self under  moral,  if  not  legal,  obligations  to 
pay  for  it.  In  neither  case,  where  the  manu- 
script has  been  submitted  unsolicited,  has  the 
author  any  real  claim.  By  his  unsolicited  offer 
of  the  manuscript  he  puts  himself  at  the  mercy 
of  the  publisher,  to  suit  his  convenience  in  its 
examination.  The  publisher  may  have  many 
manuscripts  on  hand  or  it  may  not  be  con- 
venient otherwise  to  examine  it  at  once  and 
the  author  must  wait.  He  may,  of  course,  after 
a  reasonable  time,  ask  for  a  report  on  it,  or 
for  its  return.  It  will  be  found,  however,  that 
the  better  class  publishers  conduct  their  busi- 
ness with  due  regard  to  the  demands  of  cour- 
tesy and  common  justice,  and  give  as  prompt 
attention  as  possible  to  all  manuscripts  sub- 
mitted to  them.  To  prevent  loss  of  the  manu- 
script by  accident,  authors  are  advised  always 
to  keep  an  exact  copy  of  the  original  sent  to 
the  publisher. 

Whatever  may  be  the  law  in  the  matter,  it 
has  been  settled  by  custom  that  a  publisher  is 
not  bound  to  return  a  manuscript  unless  post- 
age or  "express  collect"  instructions  have 


AUTHOR  AND  PUBLISHER  213 

been  sent  him  by  the  author,  and  the  author 
has  no  ground  for  complaint  at  the  publisher's 
failure  to  return  his  manuscript,  if  he  has  not 
complied  with  this  common  usage. 

Terms  of  Publication.  Only  a  writer  of  es- 
tablished reputation  could  set  a  price  on  his 
material  or  demand  a  stipulated  royalty  or 
even  ask  for  an  offer  from  any  of  the  reliable 
publishing  houses.  The  ordinary  writer,  with- 
out special  authoritative  reputation,  must 
await  the  pleasure  of  the  publisher,  and  if 
his  manuscript  is  acceptable  as  to  literary  ma- 
terial, he  must  accept  the  offer  of  the  pub- 
lisher or  take  his  manuscript  elsewhere. 

The  terms  offered  by  publishers  of  engineer- 
ing literature  vary  according  to  the  reputation 
of  the  author,  character  of  the  manuscript  and 
its  possible  market,  and  various  commercial 
conditions.  The  publisher  may  offer  to  buy 
the  manuscript  outright  for  a  stipulated  sum, 
or  he  may  offer  to  publish  it  on  royalty.  The 
method  of  outright  purchase  is  used  generally 
in  cases  where  the  writer  is  a  man  of  estab- 
lished reputation  and  where  books  are  written 
"to  order."  The  payment  is  usually  made, 
part  on  delivery  of  the  manuscript,  balance  on 
publication.  Under  the  more  common  method 
of  publishing  on  royalty,  there  are  three  gen- 
eral systems  in  use: 


214  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

1.  Publisher  stands  all  expense  of  manufac- 

ture and  sale  and  pays  a  percentage 
royalty  to  author. 

2.  Publisher  and  author  divide  expense  and 
.     profits. 

3.  Author  stands  all  expense  of  manufac- 

ture and  sells  to  the  publisher  at  a 
fixed  price,  the  latter  paying  the  ex- 
pense of  selling  and  handling. 
The  first  plan  is  that  most  favored  by  Amer- 
ican publishers.  The  royalty  is  sometimes  paid 
on  all  copies  sold,  and  sometimes  on  all  copies 
sold  after  a  sale  of  a  stipulated  number  of 
copies  sufficient  to  repay  the  publisher  for  his 
investment.  Royalty  is  never  paid  on  copies 
printed.  Under  this  arrangement,  and  in  fact, 
under  any  arrangement  other  than  the  outright 
purchase  of  the  manuscript  and  all  rights  in  it, 
the  author  is  entitled,  on  request,  to  an  exact 
statement  of  the  sales  of  his  book.  Some  pub- 
lishers send  monthly  or  quarterly  statements 
showing  number  of  copies  sold,  but  it  is  more 
customary  to  make  semi-annual  settlements, 
accompanied  by  full  statements  of  sales. 

In  the  case  of  a  royalty  arrangement  the 
copyright  may  be  taken  out  in  the  name  of 
either  author  or  publisher,  and  the  agreement 
may  be  for  the  full  term  of  the .  copyright  or 
for  a  briefer  period. 


AUTHOR  AND  PUBLISHER  215 

By  the  second  plan,  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  risk  is  borne  by  the  author,  his  part  in 
the  expense  usually  being  the  cost  of  compo- 
sition and  plates  and  sometimes  of  illustrations. 
He  then  remains  the  owner  of  the  plates  as  well 
as  of  the  copyright  and  receives  a  royalty  on 
the  sales,  plus  an  extra  royalty  for  the  use  of 
the  plates.  Sometimes,  in  the  case  of  an  un- 
known writer,  he  is  asked  to  bear  the  whole 
expense  of  manufacture  and  is  paid  a  larger 
rate  of  royalty.  This  method  offers  much  lee- 
way for  new  authors  to  get  their  books  in  the 
hands  of  high-class  publishers. 

The  third  method  is  used  by  writers  of  estab- 
lished reputation,  for  whose  works  there  is  a 
ready  demand.  The  author  manufactures  the 
book,  and  delivers  copies  to  the  publisher  as 
ordered,  at  a  specified  rate.  This  is  custom- 
arily 50  per  cent,  of  the  retail  price,  which  is 
paid  either  for  the  entire  lot  ordered,  or  for 
copies  sold,  by  monthly,  quarterly,  or  semi- 
annual remittances.  In  this  case  also  the  author 
retains  all  rights  in  the  copyright  and  usually 
makes  an  agreement  with  a  publisher  for  a 
specified  time. 

When  the  manufacture  of  the  book  is  under- 
taken by  the  publisher,  at  the  expense  of  the 
author,  as  may  be  in  the  last  two  methods  of 
publication  named,  the  author  is  entitled  to 
a  detailed  estimate  showing  the  outlay  he 


216  ENGINEEKING  LITEKATUEE 

agrees  to  assume,  and  before  committing  him- 
self to  any  agreement,  should  insist  upon  such 
an  estimate.  From  these  figures  he  should  be 
able  to  judge  of  costs  of  manufacture  and  pos- 
sible profits,  and  whether  the  proposition  sub- 
mitted by  the  publisher  is  fair  or  not. 

Royalties.  The  usual  royalty  is  ten  per  cent, 
of  the  retail  selling  price.  A  higher  rate  may 
be  paid  to  a  writer  of  reputation  whose  books 
are  sure  to  have  a  large  sale,  but  ten  per  cent, 
has  been  found  by  experience  to  be  the  most 
equitable  rate  on  the  average  book.  In  con- 
sidering this,  the  author  should  bear  in  mind 
that  the  publisher  is  showing  considerable 
faith  in  the  work  by  his  willingness  to  assume 
the  large  liability  of  its  manufacture  and  sale. 
If  the  book  is  a  failure,  he  stands  to  lose  from 
six  or  seven  hundred  to  three  thousand  dollars 
on  the  venture.  This  amount  is  made  up  by 
the  cost  of  editing,  composition  and  plates, 
paper,  presswork,  binding,  advertising  and 
handling  the  book,  free  review  copies,  etc., 
all  of  which  is  paid  by  the  publisher,  and  some- 
times he  is  pressed  very  hard  by  an  author  for 
an  " advance  on  account  of  royalties."  It  is 
therefore  evident  that  with  all  these  expenses, 
the  publisher  cannot  afford  to  contract  to  pay 
the  author  a  large  royalty.  The  cost  of  an 
average  technical  book  may  be  divided  as  fol' 
lows,  considering  an  edition  of  2,000,  and  a 
retail  selling  price  of  three  dollars: 


AUTHOR  AND  PUBLISHER  217 

Manufacture :  20% $  .60 

Royalty:  10% 30 

Average  discount 

on  all  sales  :  20% 60 

Expense  of  selling 

and  handling :        25% 75 

Publisher's  margin :  25% 75 

It  will  be  seen,  then,  from  this  fairly  average 
hypothetical  case,  that  the  publisher  has  in- 
vested $1,200,  and  will  have  to  sell  over  1,330 
copies  before  he  gets  back  his  investment.  Add 
to  this  1,330  copies,  say  50  free  copies,  for  the 
author,  for  reviews  in  periodicals,  and  for 
other  purposes,  and  it  is  seen  that  he  has  left 
a  few  over  600  on  which  to  make  a  possible 
profit  of  some  $450.  This  has  to  pay  him  for 
his  risk,  interest,  and  other  items,  while  the 
author  will  have  received  on  the  same  sales, 
royalties  of  nearly  $600,  besides  having  a  repu- 
tation established.  Some  books,  of  course,  far 
exceed  in  sales  the  edition  named  above,  but 
many  fall  as  far  below  it;  if  some  did  not  ex- 
ceed this  number,  there  could  be  no  high-class 
publishers. 

It  stands  to  reason  then  that  a  ten  per  cent, 
royalty  is  fair.  It  is  doubtful  if  the  "margin 
of  profit"  of  any  other  class  of  manufacture 
has  to  undergo  such  a  careful  and  continuous 
division  as  that  of  the  publisher  of  techni- 
cal books,  and  in  common  fairness,  the  author 
should  keep  this  in  mind."  Yet  there  are 
writers,  and  especially  some  of  little 


218  .  ENGINEEBING  LITEEATUBE 

experience,  who,  forgetful  of  the  necessary 
trade  discounts  and  the  up-keep  of  the  pub- 
lisher's establishment  and  organization,  go 
from  one  publisher  to  another  to  bargain  for 
higher  royalties,  making  absurd  demands,  and 
who  finally  "kill  the  goose"  by  publishing 
their  own  works.  A  very  few  succeed  but 
more  fail  of  their  purpose  and  many  of  these 
are  ultimately  saved  from  complete  loss  of 
their  investment  by  some  publisher  taking  over 
their  book,  and  creating  a  demand  for  it. 

Form  of  Agreement.  Forms  of  agreement 
vary  in  detail.  The  following  form  gives  all 
of  the  more  common  conditions  to  be  consid- 
ered. The  carrying  out  of  the  agreement  to 
the  satisfaction  of  both  author  and  publisher 
depends  upon  their  mutual  good  will  and  good 
faith  and  a  thorough  understanding  of  all  the 
terms  of  publication.  The  author  should  see 
that  everything  is  clear  and  that  all  conditions 
are  entered  on  the  agreement  form;  that  noth- 
ing is  left  as  "assumed"  or  "generally  under- 
stood." 

Agreement  made  the  day  of  19 

between  of 

(including  his  heirs  and  assigns),  hereinafter  called 
the  AUTHOB,  and 

hereinafter  called  the  PUBLISHEBS. 
Grant  and  Copyright 
Right  of  Translation  and  Abridgment 

1.  The  said  Author  hereby  grants  and  assigns  to 
the  said  Publishers,  the  Manuscript  of  a  work,  the 
subject  or  title  of  which  is 


AUTHOE   AND   PUBLISHER  21!) 

with  the  exclusive  right  to  take  out  a  Copyright 
thereof,  and  to  renew  the  same,  in  its  own  name  or  in 
the  name  of  the  Author,  and  to  publish  said  work 
during  the  term  of  the  Copyright.  The  exclusive  right 
of  translations,  abridgments  and  selections  from  the 
said  work,  or  any  parts  thereof,  is  also  granted  and 
assigned  by  the  Author  to  the  Publishers. 

Author's  Guarantee 

2.  The  Author  guarantees  that  he  is  the  sole  owner 
of   the   said   work   and   has   full   power   to    make   this 
grant,  and  that  it  is  in  no  way  libellous  or  a  violation 
of   any   copyright   belonging   to   any   other   party,   and 
that  he  will  hold  harmless  and  defend  the  Publishers 
against   all   suits,   proceedings    and   claims   which   may 
be  taken  on  the  ground  that  this  work  is  libellous  or 
a  violation  of  copyright. 

Publication 

3.  The    Publishers    hereby    agree    to    publish    said 
work  at  their  own  expense  in  such  style  and  quantities 
as  seem  to  them  best  suited  to  the  sale  of  the  work 
and  further  agree  to  use  their  best  endeavors  to  pro- 
mote such  sale,  adopting  such  methods  as  are  deemed 
most  efficient  by  them. 

Royalty 

Free  Review  Copies 

4.  The  Publichers  agree  to  pay  the  Author  a  royalty 
of  per  cent,  of  the  retail  price  of  the  work, 
on  each  copy  sold,  except  on  those  sold  to  wholesale 
dealers    in    foreign    countries,    on    which    the    royalty 
shall  be  per  cent,  of  the  American  retail  price, 
but  the  Publishers  reserve  the  right  to  send  out  such 
free  copies    (on  which  no  royalty  is  to  be  paid)    for 
review  or  otherwise  as  may  in  their  judgment  be  neces- 
sary to  suitably  advertise  and  promote  the  sale  of  the 
work. 

Statement  of  Sales  and  Payments 

5.  Statement    of    sales    shall   be    rendered    semi-an- 
nually,  in  the   months   of  January  and  July,  for  the 
periods  ending  December  31  and  June  30,  respectively, 
and  payment   of  the  amount  due  the   Author  will   bo 
made  in  each  case  within  thirty  days  thereafter. 


220  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

Author's  Alterations 
Index 

6.  Any  alterations  made  by  the  Author  after  the 
work  is  in  type,  which  exceed  ten   (10)  per  cent,  of 
the  cost  of  composition,  shall  be  at  the  expense  of  the 
Author,  and  any  Index  that  may  be  required  to  com- 
plete  the   work,    shall    be    considered   as    part    of    the 
Manuscript  and  shall  be  prepared  by  the  Author  or 
at  his  expense. 

Destruction  of  Plates 

7.  If  the  plates  or  type  forms  be  rendered  valueless 
by   fire    or   otherwise,    the    Publishers    shall    have   the 
option  of  reproducing  them  or  not,  and  if  they  decline 
to  do  so,  then,  after  the  sale  of  all  copies  remaining 
on  hand,  the  Copyright  and  all  rights  herein  granted 
shall  be  re-conveyed  to  the  Author  and  this  contract 
shall  terminate. 

Assignment  of  Contract 

8.  This  contract  may  be  assigned  by  either  party, 
and  the  Assignee  shall  have  all  the  rights  and  reme- 
dies  of   the    original    parties    thereto,    but    only   as    a 
whole  and  neither  party  shall  assign  any  part  interest 
therein. 

Author's  Copies 

9.  Five   (5)   copies  of  the  complete  work  shall  be 
furnished  on  publication  to  the  Author  by  the  Pub- 
lishers, free  of  all  charges. 

On  behalf  of  the  Publishers, 
For  the  author. 


XVI 


THE   LAW  OF  LIBEL 

[Most  of  the  following  paragraphs  are  extracted 
from  articles  by  Samuel  Merrill,  author  of  "Newspaper 
Libel,"  a  complete  and  useful  handbook  (Ticknor  & 
Co.,  Boston,  1883);  from  May's  "Law  of  Crimes"  (Lit- 
tle, Brown  &  Co.,  Boston,  1893);  and  from  Bigelow's 
"Law  of  Torts"  (Little,  Brown  &  Co.,  Boston,  1896).] 

Lord  Camden's  definition  of  libel,  repeatedly 
approved  by  the  courts  of  New  York,  is  as 
follows:  "A  censorious  or  ridiculing  writing, 
picture,  or  sign,  made  with,  a  mischievous  or 
malicious  intent,  toward  government,  magis- 
trates, or  individuals." 

Within  the  scope  of  this  definition,  printed 
and  published  blasphemy  is  indictable  as  a 
libel,  and  so  is  printed  obscenity  or  other  im- 
moral matter — both  on  the  ground  that  they 
tend  to  deprave  or  corrupt  the  public  morals. 
So  is  a  publication  against  the  government, 
tending  to  degrade  and  vilify  it,  and  to  pro- 
mote discontent  and  insurrection;  or  calumni- 
ating a  court,  tending  to  weaken  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice. 


Quoted  by  permission  from  "Writing  for  the  Press," 
by  Robert  Luce  (Boston,  1907 — $1.00) — a  useful  com- 
pilation of  material  for  reporters,  magazine  writers 
and  authors,  edited  by  a  writer  who  has  been  brought 
into  continual  contact  with  newspaper  work  for  a 
number  of  years.  For  the  technical  man,  its  greatest 
value  lies  in  the  several  sections  on  the  use  of  com- 
mon words  and  phrases — Discrimination,  Slang  or 
Idiom.  Obnoxious  Words.  Trite  or  Grandiloquent  Ex- 
pressions, Condensation  by  use  of  Simple  Words,  Bom- 
bastic and  Fine  Writing,  etc. 
221 


222  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

The  more  common  and  restricted  definition 
of  libel  at  common  law,  as  against  individuals, 
is,  the  malicious  publication  of  any  writing, 
sign,  picture,  effigy,  or  other  representation 
tending  to  defame  the  memory  of  one  who  is 
dead,  or  the  reputation  of  one  who  is  living, 
and  to  expose  him  to  ridicule,  hatred,  or  con- 
tempt. It  is  punishable  as  a  misdemeanor,  on 
the  ground  that  such  a  publication  has  a  ten- 
dency to  disturb  the  public  peace.  It  also 
gives  the  injured  party  ground  for  damages 
to  be  recovered  by  a  civil  suit. 

Language  is  none  the  less  libellous  if  the 
object  of  the  charge  is  not  named,  provided 
people  in  the  community  would  understand 
who  is  meant.  If  they  would  not  understand 
who  is  referred  to,  the  matter  is  not  of  suffi- 
cient interest  for  publication.  The  matter  is 
equally  libellous  if  directed  against  a  family, 
though  it  is  not  against  any  individual  mem- 
ber of  the  family. 

It  is  generally  immaterial  what  meaning  the 
writer  intended  his  words  to  convey;  the  ef- 
fect of  the  publication,  the  manner  in  which 
readers  understand  it,  is  alone  in  issue.  Like- 
wise it  is  immaterial  whether  the  defamatory 
charge  be  affirmative  and  direct,  or  indirect 
so  as  to  be  matter  of  inference  merely,  or 
that  it  is  ironical,  or  that  it  is  made  in  allegory 
or  other  artful  disguise.  It  is  enough  that  the 
charge  would  naturally  be  understood  to  be 


LAW  OF  LIBEL  223 

defamatory  by  men  of  average  intelligence. 

It  is  not  necessary  that  the  words  contain 
an  imputation  of  crime.  It  is  libellous  to 
charge  anyone  with  falsehood,  dishonesty,  in- 
solvency, drunkenness,  unchastity,  or  having 
a  contagious  or  infectious  disease  of  a  dis- 
graceful kind,  as  well  as  any  offense  against 
the  law. 

Defamation  has  a  natural  tendency  to  injure 
a  man  in  his  office,  business,  or  occupation, 
within  the  meaning  of  the  rule,  when  it  strikes 
at  his  qualification  for  the  performance  of  the 
duties  of  his  situation,  or  when  it  alleges  some 
misconduct  or  negligence  in  the  course  of  per- 
forming those  duties.  Language  may  be  libel- 
lous that  is  not  defamatory  of  a  person,  but 
that  impairs  the  value  of  his  property. 

The  law  assumes  the  falsity  of  a  defamatory 
publication  until  the  truth  is  shown,  and  if  the 
publication  is  false,  malice  is  also  an  assump- 
tion of  the  law,  unless  the  publication  is  priv- 
ileged. It  is  not  necessary  that  the  party  pub- 
lishing be  actuated  by  a  feeling  of  personal 
hatred  or  ill-will  toward  the  person  defamed, 
or  even  that  it  be  done  in  the  pursuit  of  any 
general  evil  purpose  or  design.  It  is  enough 
if  the  act  be  done  wilfully,  and  unlawfully,  and 
in  violation  of  the  just  rights  of  another,  ac- 
cording to  the  general  definition  of  legal  mal- 
ice. Injury  is  conclusively  assumed  to  follow 
a  false  and  defamatory  publication. 


224  ENGINEEKING  LITEKATTJKE 

In  a  civil  action,  the  truth  is  a  complete  de- 
fense, but  if  prosecuted  criminally,  the  person 
charged  with  libel  cannot  plead  that  the  pub- 
lication was  true  unless  he  can  show  that  it 
was  made  from  good  motives  and  for  justifi- 
able ends.  In  any  case,  the  writer  should  be 
sure  of  his  ability  to  .prove  the  strict  truth 
of  every  part  of  the  charge  to  the  complete 
satisfaction  of  a  jury.  Even  then  such  a  pub- 
lication is  generally  injudicious. 

An  unqualified  retraction  is  no  defense,  but 
will  tend  in  mitigation  of  damages. 

There  is  a  large  class  of  defamatory  publi- 
cations spoken  of  as  "privileged,"  to  which 
the  usual  assumption  that  they  are  prompted 
by  malice  does  not  apply.  This  class  includes 
reports  of  judicial  and  legislative  proceedings, 
comments  upon  the  policy  of  the  government 
and  upon  public  matters  and  the  conduct  of 
public  men,  and  criticisms  of  theatrical,  mu- 
sical, artistic,  and  literary  works. 

If  a  report  of  a  judicial  or  legislative  pro- 
ceeding is  made  fairly  and  in  good  faith,  there 
is  no  civil  or  criminal  liability.  It  must,  how- 
ever, be  free  from  objectionable  comment, 
whether  in  the  body  of  the  report  or  in  the 
heading.  Proceedings  before  church  organ- 
izations, societies,  and  clubs,  for  the  discipline 
of  their  members,  partake  somewhat  of  the 
nature  of  trials  in  the  courts,  and  language 
used  in  them  is  privileged,  prima  facie,  so  far 


LAW  OF  LIBEL  225 

as  it  has  pertinency  to  the  matter  under  con- 
sideration. An  editor  may  use  a  heading  prop- 
erly indicative  of  the  nature  of  a  trial,  if  it 
does  not  amount  to  comment.  A  reporter  may 
say  that  a  person  has  been  arrested  on  a  cer- 
tain charge,  but  it  would,  of  course,  be  action- 
able to  assume  the  guilt  of  the  prisoner.  It  is 
libellous  to  quote  a  libellous  charge  which  any- 
one else  has  made,  unless  the  charge  was  made 
in  open  court  or  before  a  legislative  body.  It 
is  no  defense  that  the  libellous  language  was 
copied  from  another  newspaper. 

Criticism  cannot  be  defamation  unless  it 
strikes  at  personal  character.  It  is  protected, 
therefore,  not  because  it  is  privileged,  but  be- 
cause it  is  not  defamation.  However  severe 
it  may  be,  however  unjust  in  the  opinion  of 
men  capable  of  judging,  'so  long,  in  England 
at  least,  as  the  critic  confines  himself  to  what 
is  there  called  "fair  criticism"  of  another's 
works,  the  act  cannot  be  treated  as  a  breach  of 
duty.  The  criticism  of  works  of  art,  whether 
painting,  sculpture,  monument,  or  architecture, 
falls  within  this  rule.  The  conduct,  too,  of 
public  men,  amenable  to  the  public  only,  and 
of  candidates  for  public  office,  is  a  matter 
proper  for  public  discussion.  It  may  be  made 
the  subject  of  hostile  criticism  and  animad- 
version so  long  as  the  writer  keeps  within  the 
bounds  of  an  honest  intention  to  discharge  a 
duty  to  the  public,  and  does  not  make  the 


226  ENGINEEEING  LITEKATUEE 

occasion  a  mere  cover  for  promulgating  false 
and  defamatory  allegations.  Criticism  of  pub- 
lic men  should  be  limited  to  matters  touching 
their  qualifications  for  the  performance  of  the 
duties  pertaining  to  the  position  that  they  hold 
or  seek. 

Any  person  who  takes  part  in  the  publica- 
tion of  a  libel  is  civilly  and  criminally  respon- 
sible for  it.  This  responsibility  attaches  to  the 
author,  editor,  proprietor,  printer,  and  seller 
of  the  book  or  newspaper  containing  the  arti- 
cle. Proprietors,  publishers,  and  editors  are 
liable  for  the  publication  of  libellous  matter  in 
their  prints,  though  the  publication  may  have 
been  made  without  their  knowledge  or  even 
against  their  orders.  This  is  not  true  of  news- 
vendors  ;  it  is  held  that  if  the  alleged  libel  were 
of  such  a  nature  that  a  man  of  common  intelli- 
gence could  not  know  that  it  was  intended  for 
a  libel,  and  it  was  not  in  fact  known  that  it 
was,  neither  the  editor  nor  the  proprietor  of 
the  printing  establishment  or  of  the  print 
would  be  liable. 

Local  statutes  affect  the  law  of  libel  materi- 
ally, and  every  newspaper  publisher  and  writer 
should  acquaint  himself  with  the  statutes  of 
his  own  State.  For  instance,  the  Massachu- 
setts law  reads: 

"In  an  action  for  libel  or  slander,  the  de- 
fendant may  introduce  in  evidence,  in  mitiga- 
tion of  damages  and  in  rebuttal  of  evidence  of 


LAW  OF  LIBEL  227 

actual  malice,  acts  of  the  plaintiff  which  create 
a  reasonable  suspicion  that  the  matters  charged 
against  him  by  the  defendant  are  true." 

This  important  provision  may  or  may  not 
exist  somewhere  else. 

Contempt  of  court  is  a  serious  offense  expos- 
ing to  the  liability  of  summary  punishment  an 
attorney  who  resorts  to  the  public  press  in 
order  to  influence  the  proceedings  in  a  pending 
case ;  an  editor  who  prints  any  libellous  matter 
relative  to  court  proceedings,  tending  to  im- 
pair public  confidence  and  respect  in  them, 
even  though  the  matter  is  also  indictable  as 
such ;  a  party  to  an  impending  case  who  before 
trial  circulates  printed  statements  to  the  preju- 
dice of  the  other  party;  anybody  who  pub- 
lishes a  report  of  the  proceedings  of  a  trial 
contrary  to  the  direct  order  of  the  court,  or 
publishes  such  report  with  comments  likely  to 
prejudice  the  rights  of  the  parties ;  and,  gen- 
erally, all  persons  who  perform  acts  tending  to 
interfere  substantially  with  the  efficient  serv- 
ice of  the  courts  in  the  administration  of  jus- 
tice. Headlines  likely  to  bias  jurymen  are 
particularly  reprehensible.  One  may  be  pun- 
ished for  contempt  by  reason  of  publishing  a 
libel  on  a  grand  or  petit  jury.  It  is  contempt 
for  a  reporter  to  conceal  himself  in  the  jury 
room,  and  to  report  the  deliberations  of  the 
jurors.  • 


XVII 

PREPARATION  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 
FOR  REPRODUCTION 

There  is  probably  no  other  adjunct  to  the 
making  of  technical  literature  which  is  so  little 
understood  and  so  carelessly  handled  as  the 
preparation  of  the  necessary  text  illustrations. 
And  yet  many  publications  depend  for  their 
principal  value  upon  the  illustrations  which 
accompany  the  text  matter.  It  follows,  there- 
fore, that  poorly  rendered  illustrations  will  de- 
tract not  only  from  the  appearance,  but  also 
from  the  usefulness,  of  a  book  or  paper,  as 
compared  with  illustrations  neatly  and  clearly 
executed,  correctly  drawn  as  to  details,  and 
legibly  lettered. 

Of  the  cuts  used  in  printing  there  are,  in 
general,  five  different  kinds — half-tones,  line- 
cuts,  wood-cuts,  stereotypes,  and  electrotypes, 
the  latter  two  being  but  reproductions  of  the 
first  three.  Strictly  speaking  there  are  but  two 
kinds — half-tones  and  line-cuts.  Wood-cuts  are 
line-cuts,  but  the  term  "line-cut"  has  become 
so  generally  associated  with  the  chemically- 

*  The  greater  part  of  this  matter  is  abstracted  from 
article  by  Chas.  W.  Reinhardt,  in  "Engineering1  News," 
Feby.  15,  1906. 

228 


REPRODUCTION  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS        229 

etched  zinc  plate  that  when  line-cuts  are 
spoken  of  the  zinc  plate  is  the  one  usually  re- 
ferred to. 

For  the  reproduction  of  line  drawings,  the 
following  methods  are  in  use: 

1.  Wax  engraving  process 

2.  Photo-lithography. 

3.  Photo-engraving  on  zinc. 

For  the  reproduction  of  wash  drawings  or 
photographs,  the  half-tone  process  is  used. 

Wax  Engraving  Process.  In  the  "wax 
process"  the  original,  either  a  tracing,  or  a 
blue-print,  or  pencil  sketch  on  detail  paper, 
is  photographed  in  the  desired  size  upon 
the  sensitized  waxed  surface  of  a  copper  plate. 
The  outlines  of  the  drawing  are  then 
scratched  through  this  wax  enamel  down  to 
the  blackened  copper  backing  by  means  of 
different  sized  gravers.  The  lettering  on  such 
a  drawing  is  set  up  in  type  and  stamped  into 
the  softened  wax.  The  finished  wax  engraving 
is  "electrotyped,"  the  film-like  copper  covering 
on  the  wax  mold  is  backed  with  type-metal, 
mounted  "type-high,"  and  is  then  ready  for 
printing. 

The  wax  engraving  is  considered  by  numbers 
of  technical  men  as  the  acme  of  perfection, 
since  the  lines  print  clean  and  sharp  and  the 
lettering  is  legible.  Such  illustrations  have  a 
smooth  and  finished  appearance,  but  they  are 
to  a  large  extent  routine  copies  of  poor  orig- 


230  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

inals,  with  more  or  less  liability  of  errors  and 
omissions,  as  every  line  must  be  ruled  in  by 
hand  and  all  the  lettering  must  be  reproduced 
by  setting  type  and  impressing  it  in  the  wax. 
Since  it  is  easier  to  get  superficially  passable 
results  from  a  poor  drawing  by  means  of  the 
wax  process  than  by  the  processess  to  be  de- 
scribed later,  there  is  perhaps  more  likelihood 
that  poor  material  for  illustrations  will  be 
used  for  the  wax  than  for  the  other  processes. 
The  clear,  even  lines  and  uniform,  legible  let- 
tering of  the  wax  engraving  give  rise  to  many 
illustrations  which  are  of  little  use  for  pur- 
poses of  careful  study.  This  is  most  likely  to 
be  true  when  the  illustrations  are  complex. 
For  simple  line  drawings  and  diagrams  the 
wax  process  is  commendable,  especially  where 
the  services  of  good  draftsmen  are  not  avail- 
able. 

Photo-Lithography  and  Photo-Engraving. 
When  an  author  or  publisher  wishes  to  make 
sure  of  a  facsimile  reduction  of  as  perfect  a 
line  drawing  as  is  needed  for  his  purpose,  he 
will  have  it  reproduced  by  photo-lithography 
or  by  photo-engraving  on  zinc.  Photo-lith- 
ography is  generally  employed  for  making 
large-sized  illustrations  for  folding  sheets  and 
insets,  which  cannot  very  well  be  handled 
economically  by  the  ordinary  printing  press. 
The  originals  require  the  same  finish  as  those 
used  for  the  zinc  process.  The  photographs, 


REPRODUCTION  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS      231 

reduced  to  the  desired  size,  are  transferred  to 
a  polished  lithographic  storie,  which,  after 
being  re-etched,  is  ready  to  print  from  in  the 
lithographic  press.  Original  photographs  may 
also  be  reproduced  in  this  way,  giving  the  same 
general  result  as  by  the  more  familiar  half- 
tone process,  described  further  on. 

A  line  engraving  on  zinc  is  produced  by  first 
printing  a  reversed  negative,  made  from  a 
large  original,  upon  a  polished  and  sensitized 
zinc  plate.  When  inked  by  means  of  a  printing 
roller,  the  ink  adheres  to  the  black  lines  of 
the  plate,  corresponding  to  those  on  the  orig- 
inal drawing.  Powdered  resin  is  then  sprin- 
kled over  the  plate.  It  adheres  to  the  ink 
lines,  and  on  being  heated  it  melts  and  forms 
a  protective  covering  against  the  etching  solu- 
tion. This  solution  is  next  poured  over  the 
plate  and  is  allowed  to  remain  until  it  eats  out 
enough  of  the  metal  between  the  lines  to  leave 
the  latter  in  clear  relief.  More  metal  is  then 
removed  or  "routed"  from  between  the  lines 
by  means  of  a  finishing  tool.  Finally,  the  zinc 
plate  is  mounted  upon  a  wood  block  and  is 
ready  for  use  in  the  printing  press. 

Preparation  of  Drawings.  The  process 
thus  briefly  outlined  requires  in  the  way  of 
original  drawings  pure  black  lines  on  a 
clear  white  or  bluish-white  background.  The 
medium  upon  which  to  draw  may  therefore 
be  white  paper,  tracing  paper,  or  transparent 


232  ENGINEERING  LITEEATUEE 

vellum.  Buff  colored  paper  has  sometimes 
yielded  fair  results,  but  its  use  is  not  advisable. 
It  must  be  remembered  from  the  very  outset 
that  the  drawing  is  to  be  made  for  a  certain 
amount  of  reduction,  generally  large,  and  that 
consequently  it  must  be  made  so  that  when 
reduced  its  details  will  still  be  recognizable, 
its  lines  still  separated  from  each  other,  and, 
above  all,  lettering  and  descriptive  symbols 
must  be  readily  legible. 

The  reductions  to  which  drawings  are  sub- 
jected may  vary  all  the  way  from  " one-half" 
to  "nine-tenths";  that  is  to  say,  from  one -half 
to  one-tenth  the  original  size  (linear  measure). 
An  easy  reduction  to  work  for  may  be  called 
the  " two-thirds"  reduction,  or  to  one-third  the 
linear  measure  of  the  original.  The  lines  in 
such  a  drawing  will  have  to  be  neither  too 
bold  nor  too  fine,  and  the  lettering  may  be 
made  of  moderate  size.  As  stated  above,  the 
draftsman  must  know  from  the  very  outset  the 
rate  of  reduction  and  must  proceed  accord- 
ingly, always  having  in  mind,  for  instance,  that 
for  a  two -thirds  reduction  his  lines  must  be 
three  times  the  width  of  those  on  the  final 
proof  taken  from  the  finished  plate.  This 
rule,  however,  need  not  be  carried  out  rigidly, 
because  fairly  fine,  black  lines,  having  a  ridge 
of  ink  on  top,  will  always  possess  a  value  in 
photographing,  and  will  consequently  be  re- 
corded upon  the  negative.  Some  draftsmen  are 


REPRODUCTION  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS       233 

in  the  habit  of  screwing  up  the  nibs  of  the 
ruling  pen  tightly,  so  as  to  produce  a  fine  line. 
The  result  is  that  the  ink  is  squeezed  out  be- 
neath the  points  and  a  gray,  very  fine  line  will 
result,  which  will  either  not  photograph  at  all 
or  come  out  only  in  spots.  Therefore,  it  is 
advisable  never  to  try  to  introduce  too  fine 
lines  into  any  drawing,  and  it  is  necessary  to 
make  sure  that  all  lines  are  perfectly  black. 

When  working  for  reduction  a  drawing 
should  always  be  presented  in  its  essential  de- 
tails ;  all  unnecessary  center-lines,  invisible  and 
construction  lines,  as  well  as  dimensioning, 
should  be  omitted.  In  order  to  make  clear  the 
construction  of  whatever  object  may  have  to 
be  presented,  a  certain  amount  of  outline  shad- 
ing, very  boldly  executed,  may  prove  of  great 
value.  The  shading  should  be  heavy  and  de- 
cisive, the  shade-lines  being  five  or  six  times 
as  heavy  as  the  ordinary  outlines.  The  drafts- 
man must  be  quite  sure  in  his  own  mind  as  to 
what  part  must  "stand  out,"  as,  also,  what 
portions  should  be  shown  as  receding,  and 
shade  accordingly. 

Center-lines  should  be  shown  the  strength 
of  ordinary  outlines.  The  neatest  symbol,  and 
most  suggestive  perhaps,  is  the  "dash  and  dot" 
line,  with  regular  spacing  between,  showing 
dashes  shorter  than  is  customary  at  present. 
Invisible  and  construction  lines  should  only  be 
employed  where  clearness  demands  their  use; 


234  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

short  dashes  will  answer  very  well  for  that 
style  of  lines.  Dimension  lines  in  a  well  ex- 
ecuted drawing  should  be  the  least  prominent 
of  all,  and  should  therefore  be  shown  in  very 
short,  light  dashes  or  dots,  leaving  open  spaces 
for  the  dimensions  themselves.  In  this  way 
the  solid  outlines  of  the  drawing  are  not  in 
any  way  interfered  with ;  the  eye  takes  in  at  a 
glance  the  object  itself;  all  auxiliary  lines  are 
thus  made  of  secondary  importance. 

Additional  clearness  may  at  times  be  gained 
by  introducing  a  few  touches  of  curved  sur- 
face shading,  where  such  will  aid  the  under- 
standing of  a  certain  shape,  which  perhaps  is 
not  otherwise  made  clear  by  any  other  view. 
Such  shading,  where  properly  executed,  will 
greatly  improve  the  appearance  of  a  drawing, 
but  is  unfortunately  often  used  indiscrim- 
inately, and  in  such  cases  detracts  from  the 
clearness  of  the  illustration.  In  the  style  of 
shading  there  is  a  special  tendency  for  the 
draftsman  to  use  too  close  a  spacing.  "Where 
portions  of  a  view  are  to  appear  in  section, 
the  proper  section-lining  should  conscientiously 
be  used,  being  quite  sure  that  all  such  parts 
are  properly  designated  in  this  way.  Parts 
shown  in  elevation  should  under  no  circum- 
stances receive  any  such  ruling;  a  very  rigid 
distinction  should  always  be  made  between 
parts  in  section  and  parts  in  elevation  by  the 
use  of  correct  sectioning  in  the  former  only. 


REPRODUCTION  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS       23H 

The  lettering  of  a  drawing  which  has  been 
finished  up  to  that  point  must  be  put  in 
with  a  view  of  purely  supplementing  the  draw- 
ing, and  perhaps  the  accompanying  text  mat- 
ter. It  should  all  be  placed  so  that  it  may  be 
read  from  the  base  and  the  right-hand  side  of 
the  sheet.  A  proper  distribution  of  such  de- 
scriptive matter  in  the  shape  of  notations, 
titles  and  numerals  will  wonderfully  enhance 
the  appearance  of  a  drawing — the  reverse  also 
holds  good.  There  should  be  no  attempt  to 
crowd  dimensions,  reference  letters  or  small 
notes  into  their  respective  spaces  where  such 
are  too  small.  Instead,  they  should  be  placed 
boldly  outside  or  opposite,  as  the  case  may  be, 
and  dotted  reference  lines  used,  with  arrow- 
heads attached.  This  rule  should  be  adhered 
to  especially  where  there  is  no  great  amount 
of  lettering  used,  so  that  in  such  a  case  the 
outlines  of  the  figures  are  permitted  to  stand 
out  clearly  and  distinctly  by  themselves.  The 
style  of  lettering  used  depends,  of  course, 
greatly  upon  usage  and  individual  preference; 
but  no  lettering  for  reduction  work  can  com- 
pare in  legibility  and  rapidity  of  execution 
with  the  so-called  one-stroke  Gothic  lettering, 
either  inclined  or  vertical.  The  inclined  style 
can  with  advantage  be  used  for  all  purely  de- 
scriptive matter,  dimensions,  notations,  etc. ; 
the  upright  lettering  will  naturally  commend 
itself  for  sub-captions,  reference  letters  and 


236  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

main  divisions,  which  ought  to  be  emphasized. 
The  so-called  "all-cap"  lettering  requires  more 
time  to  construct,  and  is  not  so  readily  legible 
as  the  "cap-and-lower-case"  lettering,  which 
latter  style  has  for  those  reasons  come  into 
almost  universal  favor.  Main  titles  or  cap- 
tions for  any  reproduction  can  cheaply  and 
neatly  be  set  up  in  type ;  therefore  the  con- 
struction of  such  by  hand  on  any  drawing  for 
photo-reproduction  is  nearly  always  useless 
and  expensive.  Underlining  of  lettering  is 
undesirable,  as  it  tends  to  distract  attention 
from  the  outlines  of  the  drawing  itself.  As  the 
one-stroke  lettering  is  supposed  to  be  drawn  in 
uniform  strength  of  body,  a  specific  mode  of 
procedure  becomes  necessary — the  direction  of 
stroke  and  their  sequence  ought  to  be  carefully 
studied  by  every  draftsman. 

The  different  reductions  to  which  a  drawing 
may  have  to  be  subjected  require,  of  course, 
different  sizes  of  lettering,  and  well  worn  pens 
of  different  makes  can  be  used  to  produce  just 
the  requisite  strength  of  body  for  the  letters, 
with  one  application  for  each  stroke,  for  the 
strength  of  the  body  of  the  letters  must  be  in 
accordance  with  their  respective  sizes.  For 
lettering  on  a  drawing  above  a  "five-sixths" 
reduction  (i.  e.,  to  be  reduced  to  one-sixth  its 
original  length),  a  stiff,  red  sable  brush  c«n  be 
used  with  advantage.  In  order  to  be  legible  to 
the  average  reader,  the  lettering  on  any  repro- 


REPRODUCTION  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS       237 

duction  should  not  come  out  smaller  than  uni- 
formly one  millimeter  high  in  the  small  lower- 
case letters,  such  as  ''a,"  "e,"  "m,"  "n," 
for  instance.  The  other  letters  must,  of  course, 
show  in  proportion.  Therefore  the  lettering  on 
an  original,  which,  for  example,  is  to  be  re- 
duced three-fourths  (i.  e.,  one-fourth  its  pres- 
ent length),  must  be  made  in  the  small  lower- 
case letters  mentioned  four  millimeters  high, 
with  strength  of  body  in  proportion.  A  draw- 
ing thus  lettered  up  and  executed  will  stand  a 
much  greater  reduction  and  yet  show  legible 
and  clear;  nevertheless,  the  standards  given 
here  have  been  followed  where  absolutely  good 
work  has  been  essential.  Corrections  and 
erasures  should  be  very  carefully  made,  as  the 
brownish  tint  so  often  noticeable  on  tracing- 
cloth  where  erasures  have  occurred  will  show 
on  the  negative  obtained  by  photographing, 
and  must  be  attended  to  separately.  Such 
places  can  be  covered  up  by  painting  Chinese 
white  over  the  spots  affected. 

Very  often  the  reproductions  are  overloaded 
with  non-essential  details,  every  center-line 
being  shown,  the  dimension  lines  all  ruled  in 
solid,  and  a  mass  of  almost  illegible  lettering 
being  spread  over  the  whole  illustration.  The 
reader  of  such  illustration  is  put  to  consider- 
able trouble  to  interpret  the  drawing;  he  has 
to  make  his  own'  deductions,  read  between  the 
lines,  as  it  were,  and  often  gives  up  the  task 


238  ENGINEEKING  LITERATURE 

in  disgust.  All  this  is  caused  by  reproducing 
an  unsuitably  drawn  and  lettered  illustration, 
almost  useless,  at  the  best;  certainly  not  serv- 
ing as  an  ornament  to  the  publication  in  which 
it  appears. 

There  is  no  reason  why  many  original  draw- 
ings cannot  be  made  so  bold,  in  both  lines  and 
letters,  that  instead  of  having  the  original 
blue-printed  in  the  ordinary  cumbersome  way 
they  could  simply  be  photographed  down  to 
perhaps  one-fourth  their  length.  Portfolios 
containing  such  reduced  original  drawings  are 
exceedingly  handy  and  serviceable,  and  are 
certainly  far  superior  to  the  unwieldy  and  at 
times  almost  unmanageable  roll  of  blue-prints, 
which  otherwise  have  to  be  handled. 

It  may  be  mentioned  as  a  curiosity  that  some- 
times pencil-drawings  on  tracing  paper  have 
given  good  results  in  reproduction;  the  pencil 
lines  being  black  enough  to  possess  some  value 
in  the  exposure. 

Occasionally  it  becomes  necessary  to  repro- 
duce an  illustration  taken  directly  from  some 
book,  pamphlet  or  periodical.  Such  a  repro- 
duction cannot  be  reduced  very  much,  and 
from  the  outset  of  such  operation  it  must  be 
determined  just  how  much  reduction  it  can 
"stand."  The  outlines  of  the  illustration  to  be 
reproduced  can  with  some  care  be  retouched 
where  ragged  or  broken.  The  principal  part 
to  be  amended  on  such  a  sheet  is  the  lettering, 


REPRODUCTION  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS       239 

which,  as  a  rule,  is  poorly  done  and  much  too 
small.  Such  portions  of  the  lettering  as  are 
essential  can  be  pasted  over  with  slips  of  white 
paper  and  the  parts  re-lettered  to  the  right 
size  upon  the  paper;  the  portions  not  wanted 
may  be  obliterated  by  simply  painting  over 
with  Chinese  white.  The  dimension  lines, 
which  generally  were  drawn  as  solid  lines,  can 
be  cut  up  with  a  brush  or  a  fine  pen  dipped 
into  a  solution  of  Chinese  white,  so  as  to  pro- 
duce dotted  lines  to  designate  dimensions.  The 
center  lines,  likewise,  can  be  cut  up  into  regu- 
larly spaced,  small  dots  and  dashes;  the  invis- 
ible or  construction  lines  can  either  be  "painted 
out  altogether  or  similarly  treated.  Where 
outline  shading  is  absent  on  reproductions, 
such  shading  may  sometimes  be  added,  if  the 
paper  possesses  a  fairly  good  surface.  Such 
a  remodeled  drawing  shows  up  very  well  in 
the  proper  reduction,  and  can  be  made  fully  as 
serviceable  for  purposes  of  study  as  a  well- 
executed  original  drawing. 

Half-tone  Process.  The  principles  of  the  so- 
called  "half-tone  process"  are  similar  to  those 
governing  the  making  of  line-engravings,  with 
the  exception  that  the  original,  consist- 
ing either  of  wash-drawing  or  a  photograph, 
is  photographed  through  a  screen.  The  im- 
pression recorded  on  the  sensitized  plate 
thereby  is  a  number  of  opaque  dote  of  vary- 
ing size,  the  white  sections  of  the  orig- 


240  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

inal  assuming  the  largest  size,  the  dots  grow- 
ing smaller  in  the  darker  portion  until  they  are 
completely  lost  in  the  solid  blacks.  The  effect 
is  a  picture  in  dots,  the  varying  shades  and 
tints  being  depicted  by  various  sized  dots. 

The  impression  from  the  reversed  negative  is 
taken  upon  a  highly  polished,  sensitized  copper 
plate,  which,  after  repeated  etchings,  is  ready 
for  the  wood  mounting.  The  finishing  of  such 
a  plate  consists  in  local  re-etching,  a  procedure 
which  will  diminish  the  size  of  the  dots  in 
places,  making  them  print  lighter  in  the  fin- 
ished picture.  At  times  the  dark  or  black  por- 
tions may  have  to  be  "polished"  in,  the  fine 
white  dots  in  such  places  thereby  being  oblit- 
erated, so  that  these  portions  will  print  per- 
fectly black.  Where  repeated  local  re-etching 
fails  to  do  justice  to  the  high  lights  shown  in 
the  original,  such  parts  may  boldly  be  en- 
graved out  by  a  skillful  finisher,  so  that  they 
may  print  absolutely  clear  white. 

Preparation  of  Photographs.  If  a  highly 
finished  picture  is  wanted,  exhibiting  high 
lights  and  deep  shadows,  or  where  the  judg- 
ment of  the  finisher  is  not  exactty  trusted, 
resort  must  be  had  to  retouching  the 
original  photograph.  On  the  ordinary  brown 
or  solio  prints  the  high  lights  are  painted  in 
with  pure  Chinese  white,  or  the  same  mixed 
with  vermillion,  so  as  to  somewhat  match  the 
tone  of  the  photograph.  Deep  shadows  are 


REPRODUCTION  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS       241 

produced  by  lampblack  with  a  trifle  of  vermil- 
lion  added.  Solid  blacks  can  be  effected  by  the 
use  of  India  ink.  The  purpose  arrived  at  in 
all  cases  is,  of  course,  to  somewhat  exaggerate 
the  contrasts,  as  the  interposition  of  the  screen 
in  photographing  the  original  will  have  a  ten- 
dency to  reduce  values  and  more  or  less  flatten 
the  tints.  At  times  the  contours  of  an  object 
shown  may  be  so  shadowy  against  the  back- 
ground that  a  little  outlining  in  a  light  neutral 
color  may  be  all  that  is  required.  Such  outline 
may  sometimes  be  done  effectively  in  a  slightly 
lighter  color,  where  dark  surfaces  adjoin. 
Nowadays  some  beautiful  work  is  being  done 
by  professional  retouchers  with  the  aid  of  the 
air-brush,  which  is  worked  by  compressed  air. 
The  illustrations  for  trade  catalogues,  with 
magnificent  cloud  backgrounds,  etc.,  are  nearly 
all  prepared  in  this  way. 

Most  photographs  will  be  found  to  have  a 
glazed  or  polished  surface,  which  will  not  re- 
ceive water  colors  readily.  In  such  cases  the 
surface  can  be  gone  over  gently  with  an  ordi- 
nary artist's  rubber,  taking  care  not  to  cause 
any  streaks  or  scratches.  At  times  some  rub- 
bing with  the  tip  of  the  finger  to  which  a  little 
powdered  pumice  has  been  applied,  may  be 
effective  upon  refractory  portions. 

Retouching  of  "Velox"  prints  can  be  done 
with  neutral  colors  without  any  admixture  of 
vermillion  or  brown.  Here  the  black  gener- 


242  ENGINEEEING  LITEEATUEE 

ally  needs  reinforcing.  On  dull  Velox  prints 
good  work  can  sometimes  be  done  with  an 
ordinary  H  B  drawing  pencil. 

As  occasionally  reproductions  from  line-en- 
graving can  be  effectively  "doctored  up,"  so 
also  proofs  from  half-tones  may  be  prepared 
for  a  new  reproduction.  The  proofs  cut  from 
magazines  or  trade-papers  can  be  mounted, 
and  where  judiciously  retouched  will  give  very 
good  results.  The  only  difficulty  which  en- 
gravers generally  encounter  in  this  class  of 
work  is  the  matching  of  their  screen  upon  the 
screen  which  the  original  contains.  If  this 
cannot  be  done  correctly  a  peculiarly  mottled 
effect  upon  the  surface  of  the  new  plate  will 
result. 

At  times  it  may  become  desirable,  for  one 
purpose  or  another,  to  entirely  redraw  an  un- 
satisfactory small  illustration,  or  to  make  a 
pen-and-ink  sketch  from  a  photograph.  In 
such  a  case  a  "silver-print"  enlargement  is 
made  from  the  original ;  the  silver-print  is 
mounted  and  is  ready  for  drawing.  The  light- 
brown  tint  of  such  a  print  permits  of  distin- 
guishing the  lines  drawn  upon  it;  only  the  ab- 
solutely necessary  outlines  should  be  drawn 
upon  the  print  with  waterproof  ink;  parts 
which  ought  to  be  amended  or  points  to  be  pre- 
served and  nevertheless  to  be  modified  in  ex- 
ecution can  be  drawn  on  in  pencil.  After  this 
has  been  done  the  print  is  bleached  in  an  en- 


KEPRODUCTION   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS       243 

ameled  pan  with  a  bichloride  of  mercury  solu- 
tion, the  application  of  which  will  cause  the 
photographic  color  to  disappear,  leaving  only 
the  pure  white  paper,  with  black  ink,  or  occa- 
sional pencil  outlines  upon  it.  After  rinsing 
in  clean  water  the  print  is  ready  to  continue 
with  when  dry.  Such  a  drawing  can  be  fin- 
ished in  the  style  advocated  above ;  a  pen-and- 
ink  sketch  can  be  executed  purely  in  black  and 
white,  following  the  technic  observed  in  an 
etching,  or  a  newspaper  illustration.  Small 
mistakes  can  be  rectified  by  painting  over  with 
Chinese  white.  A  good  rule  to  follow  is  to 
draw  general  outlines  on  such  prints  suffi- 
ciently heavy,  as  the  reflection  of  the  pure 
white  background  upon  the  black  lines  will 
have  a  tendency  to  make  them  appear  too 
narrow  in  photographing.  As  a  rule,  all  pen- 
and-ink  portraits  for  periodicals  are  made  in 
this  manner.  A  drawing  upon  a  bleached  sil- 
ver-print should  never  be  exposed  very  long 
to  bright  light,  as  otherwise  the  original 
brownish  tint  of  the  print  will  begin  to  reap- 
pear, a  matter  which  would  make  a  good  photo- 
reprodugtios  of  tfae  drawing  impossible. 


XVIII 

THE  MAKING  OF  A  BOOK 

The  publisher  of  a  large  technical  weekly 
was  asked  on  one  occasion  by  a  reader  for  some 
copies  of  an  issue  of  several  weeks  previous, 
the  supply  of  which  happened  to  be  exhausted. 
When  told  that  the  copy  was  out  of  print  and 
could  not  be  obtained,  the  reader  inquired, 
""Why  couldn't  you  have  your  stationer  run  off 
a  few  copies  for  me?"  This  remark  was  not 
intended  to  be  humorous ;  it  was  an  inquiry 
made  in  good  faith,  and  although  an  extreme 
case,  it  serves  to  show  that  many  readers  have 
little  or  no  idea  of  the  methods  used  and  the 
work  involved  in  producing  a  finished  publica- 
tion, either  book  or  periodical. 

Printing — "The  art  preservative  of  all  arts" 
— may  seem,  to  the  hasty  observer,  like  one  of 
the  simplest  of  arts.  Any  child  with  a  simple 
knowledge  of  spelling,  can  arrange  lettered 
blocks  in  readable  words ;  again,  with  a  toy 
press  any  child  can  stamp  paper  with  inked 
type  neatly  and  deftly.  The  arrangement  of 
letters  and  making  their  impressions  are  rated 
by  many  as  the  great  features  of  printing. 
These  elementary  processes  are  so  simple  that 
persons  who  would  not  attempt  the  work  of 

244 


MAKING  OF  A  BOOK  245 

any  craft  aside  from  their  own  specialties, 
are  confident  of  their  ability  to  make,  or 
direct  the  making  of,  a  book,  but  in  real  prac- 
tice this  apparent  simplicity  disappears.  The 
establishment  that  undertakes  to  manufacture 
books,  must  be  provided  with  tons  of  type  of 
various  faces  and  sizes ;  it  needs  type-making 
and  type-setting  machines  of  great  complexity 
and  cost,  large  and  expensive  presses,  and  a 
great  variety  of  machinery  for  electrotyping, 
folding  the  sheets,  and  binding  the  books.  All 
this  machinery  but  relieves  the  drudgery  of 
manual  labor,  leaving  still  the  necessity  of  a 
high  degree  of  skill  in  craftsmanship,  requir- 
ing for  the  attainment  of  the  best  results  both 
practical  experience  and  a  theoretical  knowl- 
edge of  the  many  processes  involved. 

Although  there  are  a  great  many  factors  to 
be  taken  into  account  in  the  making  of  a  book, 
for  general  explanatory  purposes,  the  work 
may  be  divided  into  two  divisions :  the  prepar- 
atory work,  or  the  preparation  of  the  manu- 
script; and  the  work  of  manufacture,  or  the 
actual  mechanical  production.  The  first  of 
these  concerns  the  author  and  the  publisher 
and  has  already  been  treated  in  detail.  The 
second  division  deals  with  the  composition, 
proof-reading,  illustrating,  paper  stock,  electro- 
typing,  presswork,  binding,  etc.  After  the 
work  is  finished,  a  third  and  very  important 
feature  of  the  business  comes  into  play,  namely, 


246  ENGINEEEING  LITERATUKE 

the  marketing  of  the  book,  which  involves  criti 
cisms  and  reviews,  systems  of  publicity,  whole- 
sale and  retail  trading,  and  other  matters  no1 
within  the  scope  of  the  present  work. 

THE  PHYSICAL  SIDE  OP  BOOKS 

To  book  readers,  as  well  as  to  those  who 
work  among  books,  it  is  worth  while  to  become 
familiar  with  their  make-up;  their  binding, 
paper,  typography,  etc.  To  learn  about  these 
things  pays,  because  knowledge  of  them  adds 
to  the  sum  of  one's  interest  and  because  much 
of  the  knowledge  one  may  acquire  about  them 
is  of  actual  use  in  daily  work,  helping  to  judge 
of  book  values,  to  order  bindings  with  discrim- 
ination, and  to  handle  books  with  good  judg- 
ment. Again,  because  in  learning  about  the 
physical  features  of  a  book  one  not  only  gets 
useful  information  on  several  trades  that  are 
parts  of  the  broader  trade  of  bookmaking,  but 
acquires  also  that  habit  of  criticising  or  appre- 
ciating which  tends  to  the  development  of  good 
taste  and  to  an  interest  in  objects  of  art  and 
general  culture. 

The  physical  features  of  a  book  include 
paper,  ink,  and  binding,  which  may  be  either 
of  paper,  cloth,  or  leather.  On  the  quality  of 
these  depends  the  durability  of  the  book. 

The  fears  that  have  often  been  expressed, 
are  no  doubt  true,  that  the  bulk  of  the  cheaper 


PHYSICAL  SIDE  OF  BOOKS  247 

books  published  to-day  will  soon  totally  disap- 
pear as  a  result  of  bad  paper  and  poor  binding. 
In  the  past  when  books  were  considered  worth 
printing,  they  were  also  considered  worth  pre- 
serving, and  they  wore  out  in  service  only. 
When  they  were  doomed  to  a  long  undisturbed 
stay  on  the  library  shelf,  they  were  often  bored 
full  of  holes  by  worms,  but  after  several  cen- 
turies of  existence,  the  paper  remained  tough 
and  sound,  the  ink  was  black,  and  the  stout 
leather  or  pig-skin  bindings  still  performed 
their  duty  of  firmly  holding  together  the 
printed  leaves.  The  paper  in  these  books  was 
hand-made  of  linen  rags,  carefully  and  hon- 
estly manufactured;  the  sheets  were  strongly 
stitched  together  with  good  flaxen  thread;  the 
binding  was  made  of  honest  leather,  slowly 
tanned,  and  as  a  result  sound  and  long-lived ; 
and  the  book  thus  made  was  a  thing  to  be 
preserved  and  to  be  enjoyed,  not  for  one  life- 
time only,  but  for  generations.  But  an  exam- 
ination of  the  books  that  are  produced  in  such 
quantities  to-day,  that  have  stood  upon  library 
shelves  for  a  comparatively  few  years,  or  that 
have  had  much  use,  will  show  marked  evi- 
dences of  quick  deterioration,  principally  on 
account  of  poor  papers  and  bindings. 

Papers.  Book  papers  are  made  from  linen, 
cotton,  and  hemp  rags,  and  wood  fibres;  also 
among  other  materials,  from  the  waste  prod- 
ucts of  sugar  cane,  corn  stalks,  wild  clover, 


248  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

esparto,  and  several  other  plants  which  have  a 
good  fibre.  In  linen  and  cotton  the  fibres  are 
longer  than  those  of  the  other  substances  men- 
tioned and  as  they  consist  of  a  very  pure  form 
of  cellulose,  which  is  exceedingly  resistant  to 
all  changes,  such  rags  yield  papers  of  the  high- 
est quality  and  the  greatest  durability,  and  are, 
therefore,  used  mostly  in  manufacturing  fine 
writing  papers,  ledgers,  and  book  covers,  where 
strength  is  necessary.  At  the  present  time 
the  output  of  the  book  publishers  is  so  great 
that  linen  and  cotton  rags  are  no  longer 
available  for  the  manufacture  of  ordinary  pa- 
per, and  we  are  forced  to  resort  to  wood  pulp, 
the  stock  usually  used  for  books  being  made 
from  spruce  or  fir  pulp. 

The  wood  is  reduced  or  disintegrated  either 
by  sulphurous  acid  or  by  caustic  soda  or  by 
grinding,  the  last  process  being  used  for  stock 
in  very  low  grades  of  paper,  such  as  news- 
papers and  wrapping  paper,  but  rarely  for 
book  paper.  This  chemically  treated  wood,  as 
well  as  straw  and  esparto,  have  much  shorter 
fibres  than  rags,  and  also  contain  compound 
celluloses  which  are  subject  to  change,  result- 
ing in  the  slow  disintegration  of  papers  made 
therefrom.  What  is  known  as  " mechanical" 
or  "ground"  wood,  which  is  merely  spruce 
wood  ground  very  fine  into  pulp,  has  even 
shorter  fibres,  and  contains,  in  addition  to  com- 
pound celluloses,  other  bodies  which  are  sub- 


PHYSICAL  SIDE  OF  BOOKS  249 

ject  to  rapid  decay.  Paper  made  from  this 
ground  vrood  lasts  but  a  very  short  time 
and  almost  immediately  discolors  on  exposure 
to  light  and  air,  so  should  not  be  used  for  ar- 
ticles of  Tnore  than  a  transient  value. 

It  should  be  said,  however,  that  paper  made 
from  properly  prepared  chemical  wood  fibre 
has  endured  from  the  time  of  the  practical  in- 
troduction of  this  fibre  to  the  present,  a  period 
of  less  than  fifty  years.  Exact  knowledge  re- 
garding its  durability  as  compared  with  that 
made  from  rags,  cannot,  therefore,  be  had  for 
many  years,  but  it  must  not  be  inferred  that 
papers  made  from  rags  alone  are  always  more 
durable  and  stronger  than  papers  made  from 
other  raw  materials.  Low  quality  rags  or  se- 
verely treated  rags  may  yield  a  weaker  or  less 
durable  paper  than  is  produced  from  materials 
which  in  their  original  state  are  inferior. 
When  paper  is  honestly  and  carefully  made 
from  chemically  treated  wood,  it  will  doubt- 
lessly have  a  considerable  life,  and  it  will  prob- 
ably last  as  long  as  the  materials  impressed 
upon  it  will  warrant  in  this  fast-moving  age. 
But  when  the  chemicals  used  in  bleaching,  etc., 
are  not  well  washed  out  from  the  pulp,  and  its 
processes  of  manufacture  are  lowered  to  the 
cheapest  point,  the  resulting  paper  becomes  dis- 
colored in  time,  so  as  to  be  very  objectionable 
to  the  eye  and  to  be  so  rotten  and  brittle  that 
the  merest  touch  or  strain  will  cause  it  to 


250  ENGINEEKING  LITERATURE 

break.  In  the  presswork  of  this  cheap  type 
of  books  is  often  found  pale  ink,  blurred  and 
careless  printing,  and  poor  impressions  of  the 
illustrations. 

In  the  higher  grades  of  paper,  both  the  wood 
and  the  rag  stock  are  treated  and  prepared  in 
the  same  way.  and  only  practically  pure  cel- 
lulose matter  goes  into  the  paper,  so  that  pa- 
pers for  fine  books,  while  made  chiefly  of  rags, 
may  also  successfully  be  made  of  wood. 

The  extensive  use  of  half-tone  illustrations  in 
the  works  of  to-day  also  has  a  marked  influ- 
ence on  the  character  of  the  paper,  and  thus 
upon  the  life  of  the  book.  The  rough-surfaced, 
strong  paper  of  a  generation  ago  is  altogether 
unsuited  to  the  printing  of  this  substitute  for 
the  old  copper  or  steel-plate  illustration.  The 
low  relief  and  finely  etched  surface  of  the  half- 
tone requires  the  employment  of  a  smooth-sur- 
faced, highly-glazed  paper  for  its  best  presen- 
tation to  which  fact  is  due  some  of  the  most 
serious  criticisms  of  modern  book  papers.  We 
owe  to  this  photo-etching  process  a  wealth  of  il- 
lustrations never  before  dreamed  of,  but  we 
sometimes  pay  too  high  a  price  for  this  added 
factor  in  book-making  in  the  impermanence  of 
the  book  itself.  For  example,  the  paper  used 
in  some  of  the  higher-class  publications  may  be 
of  the  best  of  the  glazed  and  sized  variety  of 
paper  made  by  modern  processes,  and  the  re- 
engraved  half-tone  illustrations  used  may  rep- 


PHYSICAL  SIDE  OF  BOOKS  251 

resent  the  highest  type  of  modern  illustrative 
work.  Yet,  dampness  will  cause  these  highly 
sized  pages  to  stick  together  so  tightly  that 
separation  means  destruction,  and  few  of  the 
readers  of  these  publications  are  aware  of  the 
fact  that  with  a  wet  sponge  any  illustration 
can  be  completely  washed  off,  together  with 
the  coating  on  the  surface  of  the  paper.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  old  wood  cut  and  the  old 
copper  plate  were  proof  against  water;  and 
while  the  page  might  be  stained  with  water, 
the  reading  matter  was  still  clear  and  acces- 
sible, and  the  book  was  practically  uninjured  by 
dampness — unless  this  was  so  long  continued  as 
to  rot  the  paper. 

Another  objectionable  feature  of  modern 
bookmaking  is  the  tendency  to  "load"  the  pa- 
per with  clay,  sulphate  of  lime,  or  other  white 
insoluble  mineral  matter;  a  treatment  in- 
tended to  increase  its  opacity  and  to  give  it  a 
smooth  surface.  The  quantity  of  "loading" 
contained  in  machine-finish  and  supercalen- 
dered  papers  varies  from  2  to  30  per  cent,  and 
in  coated  papers  from  12  to  35  per  cent.  The 
loading  materials  add  weight,  but  having  no 
fibre  themselves,  they  weaken  the  paper,  mak- 
ing it  usually  brittle  and  easily  torn.  Further, 
it  is  sometimes  carried  to  such  an  extent  that 
the  book  thus  made  is  a  perfect  nuisance  from 
the  weight  alone.  That  this  loading  is  not  nec- 
essary in  all  cases  is  shown  by  many  instances 


252  ENGINEERING  LITERATUKE 

of  books  weighing  but  one-half  as  much  as 
other  books  of  the  same  size  and  number  of 
pages,  but  made  of  loaded  paper;  both  classes 
of  books  are  bulky,  but  the  one  is  easily  han- 
dled and  read,  while  the  other  is  objectionable 
by  reason  of  its  weight.  Comparing  the  text  it 
will  be  found  that  the  loaded  book  is  nearly 
always  illustrated  with  many  half-tones,  which, 
as  has  already  been  said,  require  for  their 
proper  presentation  a  smooth  surfaced  paper; 
the  other  has  no  illustrations,  but  is  built  up  of 
sound  paper,  somewhat  rough  of  surface,  not 
bleached  to  the  extent  of  making  the  color  un- 
pleasing  to  the  eye,  and  the  impression  is  good 
and  the  type  is  very  readable.  The  paper  stock 
used  in  the  glazed  and  sized  paper  is  usually 
of  a  cheaper  character,  as  this  class  of  paper 
seems  to  lend  itself  better  to  the  process,  but 
even  were  the  paper  in  these  two  books  of  the 
same  quality  originally,  the  heavy  pressure  and 
the  effect  of  the  heat  in  passing  through  the 
rolls  in  the  calendering  process  seem  to  take 
some  of  the  life  out  of  it  and  to  render  the 
paper  stock  more  brittle  and  not  so  lasting. 

While  the  durability  of  paper  is  controlled 
primarily  by  the  kind  of  stock  and  by  the 
methods  used  in  making  it,  it  also  depends 
much  on  the  conditions  of  use  and  storage  to 
which  the  paper  is  frequently  subjected. 
Inferior  grades  of  paper  are  often  affected  by 
bacteria  and  insects  which  thrive  wherever  food, 


PHYSICAL  SIDE  OF  BOOKS  253 

moisture,  temperature,  and  reaction  of  the 
material  are  suitable.  This  trouble  is  largely 
controlled  by  the  composition  of  the  paper  as 
pure  cellulose  is  but  slowly  attacked  and  then 
only  under  favorable  conditions,  while  paper 
containing  no  starch,  glue,  or  other  nitrogenous 
sizing  material  is  least  attacked  by  insects. 
When  paper  is  exposed  constantly  to  fumes, 
particularly  to  acid  fumes,  such  as  are  pro- 
duced by  gas  lights,  its  durability  is  decreased. 
The  life  of  books  is  shortened  by  their  frequent 
and  careless  handling,  and  by  the  frequent 
folding  and  improper  binding  of  the  sheets, 
which  may  be  either  too  tight  or  too  loose. 

Besides  the  regular  paper  stock  used  in  the 
making  of  the  book  there  is  a  lining  paper, 
used  to  line  the  insides  of  the  covers.  In  most 
books  this  is  simply  a  sheet  of  the  same  paper 
on  which  the  book  is  printed,  the  first  and  last 
leaves  being  pasted  down  to  the  covers,  front 
and  back.  But  many  books,  and  especially  the 
carefully  bound  ones,  have  lining  papers 
selected  with  regard  to  their  size  and  charac- 
ter, to  the  color  of  the  leather  on  their  backs 
and  of  the  paper  or  cloth  on  their  sides. 

Manifestly  the  purchaser  of  paper  cannot 
know,  even  by  the  most  careful  examination, 
that  it  has  been  made  in  accordance  with  the 
best  methods  known  to  paper  makers,  except 
as  those  methods  reveal  their  effects  indirectly 
to  certain  chemical,  physical,  and  microscopical 


254  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

tests.  Not  all  paper  need  be  of  the  highest 
quality  and  greatest  durability.  The  quantity 
of  raw  material  available  will  not  permit  this, 
nor  do  the  purposes  for  which  the  paper  is 
used  always  justify  it.  Low-grade  materials 
may,  therefore,  quite  properly  be  mixed  with 
high-grade  or  used  alone,  the  proportions  of 
the  mixture  being  governed  by  the  character  of 
the  paper  desired  and  the  purposes  for  which 
it  is  to  be  used. 

Finally,  paper  that  is  well  made  and  of  good 
materials  does  not  always  meet  all  require- 
ments. From  the  broad  economic  view  it  is 
highly  important  that  the  consumer  be  not  bur- 
dened with  an  unnecessary  weight  or  bulk  of 
material,  and  that  raw  materials  be  conserved. 
For  these  reasons,  papers  should  not  be  need- 
lessly heavy  nor  bulky.  Any  additional  weight 
or  bulk  beyond  that  which  is  necessary  to  se- 
cure sufficient  strength,  opacity,  and  resistance 
to  wear  and  tear  results  in  lessened  durability, 
greater  cost  of  handling  and  transporation, 
needless  consumption  of  raw  materials,  in- 
creased space  for  storage  and  inconvenience  in 
handling.  Book  papers,  as  a  rule,  weigh  48 
pounds  or  more  per  ream  (24x36  ins.),  and 
are  from  0.0035  to  0.0070  inch  thick.  The  sav- 
ing in  raw  materials,  labor,  and  storage  space, 
and  in  freight,  express,  and  mailing  expenses 
which  would  result  from  the  use  of  lighter  and 


PHYSICAL  SIDE  OF  BOOKS  255 

better  paper  would  go  far  towards  paying  the 
extra  expense  of  making  it. 

Inks.  Printing  inks  consist  of  a  pigment, 
black,  white,  or  colored,  ground  into  a  suitable 
varnish.  The  pigment  is  that  constituent 
which  makes  the  impression  visible;  the  var- 
nish is  the  vehicle  which  carries  the  pigment 
during  the  operation  of  grinding  and  during 
its  distribution  on  the  presses  to  the  type,  from 
the  type  to  the  paper,  and  ultimately  binds  it 
to  the  paper.  The  machinery  used  to  accom- 
plish this  grinding1  and  mixing  consists,  first, 
of  mixers,  in  wThich  the  ingredients  are  thor- 
oughly incorporated  with  each  other.  This  be- 
ing done,  the  resulting  mixture,  or  "pulp,"  is 
ground  up  in  mills  formed  of  cylinders  set  in 
close  contact.  Between  these  rolls  the  pulp  is 
passed  again  and  again,  the  number  of  times 
being  dependent  upon  the  consistency  of  the 
ink  and  the  nature  of  the  pigments,  until  it  is 
ground  to  the  utmost  fineness.  The  result  is 
printing  ink  as  it  is  known  to  the  printer,  vary- 
ing in  consistency,  strength,  intensity,  perma- 
nency, brilliancy,  drying,  and  other  working 
qualities,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  vari- 
ous varnishes,  dryers,  and  pigments  from 
which  it  is  made. 

Bindings.  Bindings  are  customarily  of  pa- 
per, cloth,  and  leather.  The  paper  covers  are 
used  for  pamphlets  and  cheap  editions  of  fiction, 
and  are  made  in  an  endless  variety  of  quality, 


256  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

weight,  and  color.  The  great  majority  oi 
books  of  all  kinds  are  now  bound  in  cloth,  but 
until  the  beginning  of  the  last  century  cloth 
was  almost  unknown  as  a  material  for  covering 
a  book.  Books  were  then  very  costly,  being 
printed  by  hand  on  paper  made  by  hand,  and 
were  considered  worthy  of  the  most  lasting 
bindings.  As  the  life  of  books  depends  greatly 
on  the  strength  and  wearing  qualities  of  the 
covers,  such  materials  as  wood,  vellum,  and 
leather,  often  reinforced  with  metal,  were  gen- 
erally used.  During  the  past  century,  improve- 
ments in  methods  and  machinery  so  reduced 
the  cost  of  the  printed  sheets  that  a  demand 
arose  for  a  correspondingly  cheaper  material 
for  bindings.  The  want  was  satisfactorily  met 
by  the  use  of  cloth,  and  from  the  day  that  it 
was  first  used  it  has  become  more  and  more 
a  factor  in  book  manufacturing.  Book  cloths, 
from  their  appearance  and  manufacture,  fall 
into  two  divisions:  the  first,  called  " solid  col- 
ors," consists  of  those  in  which  the  threads  of 
the  cloth  are  not  easily  distinguishable;  the 
second  consists  of  the  "linens"  and  the  "buck- 
rams," in  which  each  thread,  with  the  imper- 
fections and  peculiarities  of  the  weaving,  is 
plainly  seen  and  forms  a  large  part  of  their 
picturesque  effect. 

The  first  of  the  "solid  colors"  to  be  used 
was  black  cloth,  but  they  are  now  made  in 
many  colors,  though  chiefly  in  simple  pro- 


PHYSICAL  SIDE  OF  BOOKS  257 

nounced  shades,  such  as  browns,  blues,  greens, 
and  reds.  These  cloths  are  dyed  and  sized  with 
a  stiffening  preparation,  and  are  used  in  vari- 
ous patterns  which  are  embossed  on  the  surface 
during  the  process  of  manufacture. 

Of  the  second  division  of  cloths,  in  which 
the  appearance  of  the  threads  becomes  a  part 
of  the  effect,  there  are  first,  the  "linen" 
cloths.  The  chief  characteristic  of  these  is 
that  the  coloring  used  fills  the  interstices,  but 
allows  all  the  threads  to  be  clearly  seen.  The 
irregularities  of  the  weaving,  therefore,  stand 
out  plainly  and  produce,  to  a  certain  extent, 
the  appearance  of  woven  linen  fabrics.  The 
linen  cloths  are  specially  used  for  school  and 
other  books  which  are  constantly  handled,  as 
their  construction  shows  less  wear  than  do  the 
solid  colors. 

A  linen  cloth,  observed  through  a  microscope 
which  magnifies  the  threads  to  a  coarseness  of 
about  forty  to  an  inch,  gives  the  exact  appear- 
ance of  a  "buckram,"  which  is  well  adapted 
to  large  books  and  which  furnishes  the  most 
desirable  binding  of  all  kinds  of  book  cloths. 
For  technical  books  buckram  is  altogether  sat- 
isfactory. It  can  be  obtained  in  almost  any 
weight,  color,  and  smoothness  or  roughness  of 
surface.  It  is  strong,  looks  well,  and  wears 
well,  and  it  will  take  a  stamped  label  or  a 
leather  or  paper  label.  It  is  made  of  the  same 
material  as  the  "linen"  cover  but  is  usually 


258  ENGINEEEING  LITEEATUEE 

heavier  in  the  thread  and  therefore  lasts  longer. 

Buckrams  are  sometimes  embossed  to  imitate 
in  part  the  appearance  of  an  irregularly  woven 
fabric  called  " crash."  This  is  a  special  cloth 
which  might  be  classed  with  the  buckrams,  and 
when  suitably  used  is  a  very  artistic  material. 

"Basket  cloth"  is  still  another  material 
which  could  be  included  with  the  buckrams. 
In  this  grade  of  cloth  the  threads  are  woven 
in  squares  resembling  a  basket  mesh,  from 
which  fact  the  name  is  derived. 

For  leather  bindings  there  is  hardly  any  part 
of  the  world  that  has  not  been  drawn  upon  for 
suitable  skins.  These  are  generally  goat,  seal, 
pigskin,  cowhide,  calf,  and  sheep,  and  they 
vary  in  quality  according  to  the  country  they 
come  from  and  the  manner  in  which  they  are 
cared  for,  the  stall-fed  animals,  or  those  that 
are  protected  from  storm  and  have  regular 
food,  producing  the  best  skins.  But  leather 
for  binding  purposes,  as  now  made,  is  not  a 
lasting  substance,  and  almost  invariably  the 
modern  leather  binding  soon  falls  to  pieces. 
One  cause  of  this  is  that  a  single  hide  is  now 
split  into  two,  three,  or  more  pieces  after  it  has 
been  rapidly  tanned  by  modern  processes.  The 
leather  is  made  weaker  by  the  treatment  it  has 
received,  and  the  splitting  makes  it  weaker 
still ;  the  life  has  gone  out  of  it  'and  it  quickly 
deteriorates  and  will  in  time  crumble  into  dust 
under  the  fingers.  This  is  especially  true  of 


PHYSICAL  SIDE  OF  BOOKS  259 

the  so-called  ' 'sheepskin"  binding.  Our  highly- 
heated  offices  and  houses  also  hasten  this  de- 
structive action  by  drying  out  the  little  oil  that 
is  left  in  the  leather.  As  a  rule,  a  full  cloth 
binding  is  more  lasting  than  the  full  or  half 
leather  binding.  But  were  it  not  the  case  that 
leather  manufacturers  are  able,  by  using  split- 
ting machines,  to  split  skins  so  that  both  parts 
of  a  skin  can  be  used,  it  would  be  impossible 
for  the  binder  to  supply  the  needs  of  his  cus- 
tomers as  the  output  does  not  keep  pace  with 
the  demand;  in  fact,  binders  are  constantly 
looking  for  substitutes. 

The  most  durable  material  for  book-binding 
was  discussed  in  a  report  of  the  Librarian  of 
Congress  issued  in  1903.  He  has  found  that 
duck  of  suitable  quality  is  more  durable  than 
most  leathers  of  modern  tannage  and  this  cloth 
is  now  generally  used  in  the  Library  of  Con- 
gress. This  material  also  seems  to  provide  the 
best  insurance  known  against  the  injury  result- 
ing from  rebinding.  Good  duck  bindings  are 
almost  indestructible. 

In  general,  the  quality  and  cost  of  bindings 
increase  in  the  following  order:  paper,  board, 
cloth,  skiver,  roan,  calf-skin,  russia,  turkey  mo- 
rocco, levant  morocco.  Parchment,  vellum,  and 
hog-skin  are  classed  as  exceptional  bindings. 

Modern  methods  of  bookmaking  have  doubt- 
less come  to  stay,  and  we  can  and  do  make  as 
good  paper  as  our  ancestors  when  this  paper 


260  ENGINEEEING  LITEEATUKE 

is  wanted  and  paid  for;  and  our  typography, 
presswork,  and  illustrations  and  decoration  of 
the  book  will  bear  comparison  with  any  pro- 
duct that  has  gone  before.  But  this  applies  to 
expensive  books  only,  when  no  money  has  been 
spared  in  their  production.  In  the  case  of 
technical  books,  where  much  handling  demands 
durability,  it  will  pay  to  use  good  paper,  good 
presswork,  and  good  binding,  and  this  is  espe- 
cially so  in  the  case  of  books  for  reference. 

OUTLINE  OF  WORK  OF  THE  MANUFACTURING 
DEPARTMENT 

The  manufacture  of  a  book  consists  primar- 
ily of  the  processes  of  transforming  a  manu- 
script into  a  completed  volume.  Few  publish- 
ers make  their  own  books ;  this  work  is  a  spe- 
cial part  of  the  great  field  of  printing.  When 
the  arrangements  between  the  author  and  the 
publisher  have  been  completed,  and  the  manu- 
script has  been  edited,  it  is  turned  over  to  the 
manufacturing  department  with  such  general 
instructions  regarding  the  make-up  and  ap- 
pearance of  the  book  as  may  have  been  decided 
upon  or  discussed  with  the  author,  who  invari- 
ably, and  sometimes  unfortunately,  has  some 
preconceived  notion  of  what  his  book  should 
look  like.  Authors  should  always  bear  in  mind 
that  their  books  must  be  made  to  sell  and  to 
sell  they  must  be  made  to  withstand  a  certain 
amount  of  wear  and  tear,  which  must  be  pro- 


MAKING  OF  A  BOOK  261 

vided  for  in  the  process  of  manufacture.  The 
details  of  manufacture  are  much  better  known 
to  the  publisher  than  they  can  be  to  any 
author.  It  is  the  publisher's  business  to  know 
them;  so  while  the  author  is  always  consulted 
regarding  his  ideas,  and  while  the  publisher 
endeavors  to  meet  the  wishes  of  the  author  as 
far  as  practicable,  the  author  should  allow 
himself  to  be  guided  and  advised  by  his  pub- 
lisher's superior  knowledge  of  the  subject. 

Taking  into  consideration  the  details  of  the 
book,  such  as  the  subject,  length,  character, 
style,  probable  market,  appropriate  price,  pos- 
sible sales,  and  number  of  copies  to  be  issued, 
and  the  wishes  of  the  author,  the  book  de- 
signer draws  up  specifications  for  its  paper, 
type,  sizes  of  type-page  and  trimmed  page, 
headlines,  title  page,  ornaments,  binding,  and 
all  other  details  that  enter  into  its  construc- 
tion. The  expert  book  designer  must  be  fa- 
miliar with  every  feature  of  bookmaking,  and 
every  book  he  lays  out  evidences  in  all  its  parts 
the  extent  of  his  skill  and  knowledge. 

The  first  work  is  the  selection  of  a  suitable 
style  and  size  of  type  (see  page  266)  and  size 
of  letter-press  page  for  the  book.  Then  a  few 
sample  pages  are  set  up  and  an  estimate  made 
of  the  number  of  pages  that  the  book  will 
make  (see  page  270).  If  the  sample  pages  are 
not  satisfactory,  others  are  set  up  until  a  page 
is  finally  arrived  at  that  meets  the  require- 


262  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

ments  of  the  book  and  is  satisfactory  to  the 
publisher  and  the  author. 

This  detail  settled,  the  work  of  composition 
is  preceded  with.  Sometimes  a  book  is  set  up 
at  once  in  page  form,  but  the  usual  practice  is 
to  send  the  author  the  first  proofs  in  galley 
strips,  on  which  all  corrections  and  alterations 
should  be  made  before  the  matter  is  divided 
into  pages  (see  page  278).  When  the  page 
proofs  have  been  passed  by  the  author,  the 
typographer  casts  the  electrotype  plates  from 
which  the  book  is  to  be  printed,  unless,  as  is 
occasionally  the  case,  it  is  to  be  printed  from 
type,  when  no  electrotype  plates  are  made. 

In  the  meantime,  when  the  number  of  pages 
has  been  definitely  determined,  and  the  size  of 
the  trimmed  book  is  decided  upon,  a  suitable 
paper  stock  is  selected  and  an  order  placed  for 
the  quantity  necessary  for  the  proposed  edi- 
tion. In  the  selection  of  the  paper  there  must 
be  considered  the  quality,  color,  and  surface 
finish  most  suitable  for  the  class  of  typography 
and  illustrations  that  are  to  be  used,  and  also 
the  bulk,  or  thickness,  that  the  book  must  be 
to  make  a  volume  of  proper  proportions.  Upon 
delivery  of  the  paper  to  the  printer,  a  full- 
sized  dummy  of  the  book  is  sometimes  made  up 
for  the  purpose  of  checking  the  order  given  to 
the  paper  dealer. 

If  the  book  is  to  be  illustrated,  the  draw- 
ings or  photographs  submitted  are  carefully 


MAKING  OF  A  BOOK  263 

gone  over,  and,  when  finally  approved,  they 
are  marked  to  show  the  dimensions  of  repro- 
duction and  sent  to  the  engraver  (see  page  228) . 
On  receipt  of  the  reproductions  and  after  a 
satisfactory  checking  of  proofs,  the  cuts  are 
sent  to  the  typographer  or  printer  for  insertion 
in  their  proper  places  in  the  plates  or  type- 
matter  of  the  book.  The  pages  are  then  made 
up  in  forms,  usually  of  sixteen  pages  each, 
from  which  the  sheets  are  printed,  and  as  soon 
as  printing  has  been  completed,  the  printed 
sheets  are  delivered  to  the  binder. 

A  cover  design  having  been  decided  upon,  it 
is  turned  over  to  the  die  cutter,  who  then  cuts 
the  brass  dies  used  by  the  binder  in  stamping 
the  design  on  the  covers.  The  dies,  when  fin- 
ished, are  sent  to  the  binder,  who  stamps  off 
some  sample  covers  until  the  proper  effect  has 
been  attained.  A  few  advance  copies  of  the 
completed  book  are  then  made  up  and  bound  so 
that  any  faults  or  errors  may  be  caught  and 
remedied  before  the  entire  edition  is  bound. 

"When  everything  has  been  approved,  the 
binder  proceeds  with  the  binding  of  the  books. 
Two  of  the  first  completed  copies  are  des- 
patched to  the  Library  of  Congress  at  Wash- 
ington for  copyright  purposes  (see  page  178), 
and  copies  are  sent  to  the  publicity  depart- 
ment, which  distributes  a  number  to  a  selected 
list  of  periodicals  for  review  purposes,  and 
samples  to  salesmen  and  the  trade  generally. 


264  ENGINEEEING  LITEEATUEE 

A  question  has  often  been  raised  regarding 
vertical  lettering  on  the  backs  of  thin  books. 
In  bound  books  the  title  should  be  uniformly 
in  one  direction,  and  the  proper  direction 
is  from  the  bottom  upwards.  In  a  shelf 
full  of  books,  some  lettered  one  way,  and  some 
the  other,  either  the  books  lettered  from  the 
top  downwards  must  be  placed  bottom  down 
on  the  shelf  or  the  persons  reading  the  titles 
must  read  some  titles  upside  down,  or  else  to 
avoid  the  latter  he  must  shift  his  position  from 
the  right  to  the  left  of  the  book.  The  only 
justification,  if  it  can  be  called  such,  for  let- 
tering the  backs  from  the  top  down,  is  that 
when  a  book  is  lying  flat  on  a  table  or  a  desk, 
title  page  and  cover  upwards,  the  back  title 
is  then  bottom  side  down,  but  the  normal  place 
for  any  considerable  number  of  books,  and 
particularly  technical  books,  when  not  in  use, 
is  on  book-shelves,  where  they  naturally  stand 
upright.  With  periodicals  it  is  different. 
These  are  generally  filed  flat  instead  of  up- 
right, and  hence,  when  lettered  on  the  backs, 
the  title  should  read  from  left  to  right. 

This  brief  outline  covers  in  a  general  way 
all  the  steps  in  the  process  of  the  making  of 
a  book.  It  would  be  impossible  to  give  in  the 
small  space  available  a  thorough  explanation 
of  the  innumerable  details  that  interweave  and 
overlap  each  other  in  the  manufacturing  de- 


MAKING  OF  A  BOOK  265 

partment,  especially  when  it  is  considered  that 
as  many  as  forty  to  fifty  different  books  arc 
often  in  process  of  manufacture  at  the  same 
time,  in  some  of  the  larger  publishing  houses. 
The  necessary  virtue  to  be  possessed  by  the 
workers  in  this  department  is  patience ;  to  them 
disappointment  comes  so  often  that  it  is  the 
rule  rather  than  the  exception — from  the  de- 
lays due  to  unavoidable  causes,  to  the  blunders 
of  stupid  workmen,  the  broken  promises  and 
neglect  of  authors,  and  to  many  other  causes 
too  numerous  to  mention.  The  first-class  manu- 
facturing man  must  be  more  than  a  mere 
drudge — he  must  be  a  lover  of  books;  and  if 
he  is  such,  he  can  withstand  these  disappoint- 
ments and  will  possess  the  patience  required 
to  carry  his  work  successfully  over  its  erratic 
course  through  the  press,  in  many  instances  for 
months,  until  it  reaches  his  hands  a  completed 
work  of  art  or  a  useful  and  substantial  in- 
strument. 

Dealing  Direct  With  the  Printer.  When  a 
book  is  issued  by  a  publishing  house  having 
regular  dealings  with  printers,  the  publisher 
attends  to  all  the  labor  of  receiving,  recording, 
and  transmitting  proofs  from  the  printer  to 
the  author,  and  vice  versa.  When,  however,  an 
author  undertakes  to  deal  directly  with  the 
printer,  he  should  make  a  record,  with  dates, 
of  all  manuscript  sheets,  proofs,  etc.,  sent  to 
the  printer  or  received  from  him  and  should 


266  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

also  carry  out  as  nearly  as  possible  the  order  of 
receipt  and  dispatch  of  proofs,  etc.,  as  in  the 
manufacturing  department  of  a  regular  pub- 
lishing house. 

TYPOGRAPHY 

The  two  greatest  steps  in  the  advancement 
of  the  printing  art  were  the  invention  of  mov- 
able types  about  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth 
century  and  the  invention  of  the  cylinder  press 
early  in  the  nineteenth  century.  Printing  was 
done  in  China  at  a  very  early,  but  indefinite, 
period,  but  the  invention  of  movable  types  in 
Europe  is  generally  referred  to  as  the  inven- 
tion of  printing.  The  second  advance  men- 
tioned did  away  with  the  old-fashioned  hand- 
press,  producing  from  200  to  300  impressions 
per  hour,  and  by  the  application  of  steam  and 
electricity,  made  possible  the  modern  web  per- 
fecting press,  capable  of  an  output  of  5,000  to 
100,000  complete  sheets  per  hour  of -eight  to 
thirty-two  pages  each,  printed  on  both  sides, 
and  pasted  and  folded.  A  third  advance,  of 
comparatively  recent  date,  was  the  invention 
of  type-setting,  or  more  properly,  type-casting, 
machines.  In  some  of  these  the  individual 
types  are  dispensed  with,  the  line  becoming 
the  movable  unit;  in  others,  the  individual 
types  are  made  and  set  as  desired. 

*For  much  of  the  matter  in  this  chapter,  I  am  in- 
debted to  Luce's  "Writing-  for  the  Press";  De  Vinne's 
books  on  "The  Practice  of  Typography,"  and  Carnell's 
small  reference  book,  "Concerning  Type." 


TYPOGRAPHY  267 

What  Types  are  Made  of.  Separate  types  are 
made  of  metal  and  wood,  and  are  slightly  less 
than  an  inch  (.918-in.)  high.  Metal  types  are 
made  of  an  alloy  of  lead,  tin,  and  antimony, 
in  various  proportions,  sometimes  with  a  small 
percentage  of  copper  or  nickel,  and  are  often 
copper-faced  by  an  electro-chemical  process  to 
add  to  their  durability.  They  are  cast  in  a 
mold,  and  are  nicked  on  the  bottom  for  the 
guidance  of  the  compositor.  The  larger  types, 
such  as  used  for  poster  printing,  etc.,  are  gen- 
erally made  of  close-grained  wood — apple, 
maple,  box-wood,  etc. — although  celluloid  is 
sometimes  employed  for  the  face,  being  glued 
to  a  wood  base. 

Sizes  of  Types.  In  typography  the  unit  of 
measurement  is  the  em — the  name  coming  from 
the  part  of  a  line  occupied  by  the  letter  m,  the 
size  of  the  em  varying,  of  course,  with  the  size 
of  the  type.  An  em  of  any  type  is  the  square 
of  the  body  of  that  size  of  type.  Printers  have 
by  common  consent  made  the  size  known  as 
'pica'  the  standard  of  the  printing  office,  and 
this  is  used  in  estimating  the  cost  of  composi- 
tion, the  wages  of  typesetters,  and  the  sizes  of 
pages.  It  is  also  used  to  designate  the  length 
of  dashes  or  spaces. 

Formerly  it  was  the  practice  of  each  type- 
founder to  establish  his  own  standards  of  type 
sizes,  which  were  designated  by  names — non- 
pareil, brevier,  pica,  etc.  Owing  to  the  absence 


268  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

of  a  uniform  standard,  sizes  of  the  same  name 
from  different  typefoundries  varied  greatly, 
causing  much  annoyance  and  no  little  addi- 
tional labor  in  justifying  one  with  another. 
This  inconvenience  led  to  the  adoption,  some 
years  ago,  of  the  'point  system,'  by  which  the 
typefounders  of  the  United  States  brought 
about  an  absolute  uniformity  of  the  different 
sizes. 

The  point  system  is  based  on  an  inch  having 
seventy-two  fractional  parts,  termed  'points,' 
each  size  of  type  being  designated  according 
to  its  fractional  relation  to  the  inch,  expressed 
in  points;  as,  '8-point,'  '10-point,'  etc.  Under 
this  system  the  old  names  of  type  bodies  (non- 
pareil, brevier,  etc.),  have  gone  out  of  general 
use. 

These  lines  are  set  in  'Pica,'  and  this 
™  is  the  size  of  the  pica  em.  The 
'point'  is  almost  exactly  one- twelfth  this 
standard,  or  to  be  exact,  it  is  an  area  .0138  inch 
long  by  .0138  inch  wide,  which  figures  out  to  the 
above  mentioned  division,  or  exactly  72  points 
(or  6  picas)  to  0.996  inch  (or  35  centimeters). 
There  are  5251  points  to  the  square  inch.  An  '8- 
point'  type  is,  then,  one  in  which  the  em  is  8 
points  or  eight  seventy-seconds  of  an  inch 
square,  having  an  area  of  64  points;  the  '10- 
point'  is  10  points  square,  with  an  area  of 
100  points,  and  so  on.  To  find  the  number  of 


TYPOGEAPHY  269 

ems  in  a  square  inch  of  any  given  type,  divide 
5251  by  the  square  of  the  point  of  the  type  in 
question.  For  example,  to  find  the  number  of 
ems  in  a  square  inch  of  10-point  type;  5251-f- 
100=521/2.  Multiplying  this  by  the  number 
of  square  inches  in  the  printed  page,  say  18, 
gives  945  ems  to  the  page. 

Larger  sizes  than  18  point  are  made  in  metal 
up  to  120  point  and  in  wood  in  multiples  of 
pica,  known  as  10-line  pica,  20-line  pica,  etc., 
the  12-line  pica  being  12  lines  of  pica  or  just 
one  inch  high.  These  types  are  used  princi- 
pally for  ornamental  work  and  advertising  dis- 
play. 

Type  Measurement  is  made  on  a  basis  of 
*  solid,'  that  is,  not  open  spaced  or  'leaded,' 
matter.  If  the  matter  is  leaded,  it  is  never- 
theless measured  by  surface  area  and  the  pub- 
lisher charged  for  it,  and  the  compositor  is  paid 
for  it,  as  if  it  were  set  solid.  To  find,  or  check 
up,  cost  of  composition  at  a  certain  price  per 
1,000  ems,  multiply  the  number  of  ems  in  one 
line  by  the  number  of  lines.  If  the  matter  is 
'solid,'  multiply  the  number  of  points  in  the 
line  by  72  and  divide  the  product  by  the  square 
of  the  number  of  points  of  an  em  of  the  type 
used.  If  'leaded,'  allow  two  points  for  the 
thickness  of  the  lead,  figuring  8-point  matter 
as  10-point,  10-point  as  12-point,  etc.,  up  and 
down  the  page — not  across.  To  illustrate;  to 
find  the  number  of  ems  in  an  inch  of  a  standard 


s  & 

P     u 

ex 


gj 

g* 


V-H     <U     0)     •->   tn 

gg<.ss> 

<U   o,          .  =J 

bjo     ^o<u 

^^ItJ^ 

O  rt  g  .  -  tn 


g     3 


ui  suig 


OOt^  «0  O  •*  Tt< 


f 


I       I 

o  £ 

a  oj 

en  4-9 

<U     1/5 


M     C/3 

8| 

^    O 


O    O 

£^ 

<D  £3 

&   aJ 
H'o 


43 -a 

o 

^§ 

ih 

§-l 


s 


rt      & 

<T)       ""•     OJO 

IP 

O     PH   ^ 

T3  g^: 
„  M  <D 

is    t: 

0/Dn3    =d 
^    fl    S 

^     C^     C^ 


Til  '"C? 
CD  <L) 
W  CO 

|'g 

so 
'g 

O  ,*v{ 

•M 

co    P 

-j    •>        (^ 

CO  o 
d)  x 

S?J 

,3.8 


in  descriptive  catalogues, 
reprints  of  addresses,  etc 


CO 


>»  « 

-2  (3 

cxu 
•2  S 

*^5   U 

.    co 

^•^j 


03    <D 

CO  ^ 

Ji^     C7 

•s  g  ^ 

L  >  MH 


^   G   cd 

3        "*   M-l 


CO 

t> 

CJ 
03 


tUD  S 

•3  «   J5-2 

c§>-^2 


cd 

4-> 

c 

<u 

e 


s 


270  ENGINEERING  LITEEATUEE 

book-page  set  in  8-point.  A  standard  book 
line  of  25  ems  (pica)  is  figured  at  300  points 
(25xl2-point,  or  pica).  Multiplying  by  72  and 
dividing  by  64  (the  square  of  the  8-point)  gives 
3371/2  (338)  ems.  To  find  the  number  of  ems 
in  any  given  line  of  type,  multiply  the  length 
of  the  line  in  inches  by  72  and  divide  by  the 
number  of  points  in  an  em  of  the  type  in  ques- 
tion. Thus,  the  25-em  pica  line  is  4  1/6  inches 
long:  (4  1/6  x  72  -^  12  =  25  ems).  The  length 
of  this  line  is  3  inches,  the  type  is  10-point, 
therefore  3  x  72  ^  10  gives  21-6  ems  or  216 
points;  this  multiplied  by  72  and  divided  by 
100  gives  approximately  156  ems  to  the  inch. 

Estimation  of  Space  Occupied  By  Manu- 
script. To  get  a  rough  estimation  of  the  space 
that  will  be  occupied  by  a  given  number  of 
words  when  in  type:  (1)  find  the  number  of 
points  to  the  length  of  line  desired,  also  the 
depth  of  the  page  in  points  and  ems;  (2)  di-' 
vide  the  points  of  the  line  by  the  size  type  to 
be  used;  (3)  multiply  this  by  length  of  page 
in  ems;  (4)  divide  this  product  by  3,  and  this 
will  be  the  approximate  number  of  words  to 
the  page — solid  matter.  If  it  is  to  be  leaded, 
add  the  thickness  of  the  lead,  usually  two 
points,  to  the  size  of  the  type  used  in  finding 
the  number  of  ems  to  the  page  length. 

For  example,  in  a  page  of  this  book,  the  line 
has  216  points  as  shown  above,  and  the  length 
of  the  page  (not  counting  headlines)  is  5% 


TYPOGRAPHY  271 

inches  or  369  points  (72  x  5y8) ;  dividing  216 
by  10-point  type  gives  21.6  ems  to  the  line ; 
369  points  divided  by  10-point  type  plus  2 
points  for  leads,  or  12  points,  gives  30.7  ems, — 
which  multiplied  by  21.6  gives  663  ems;  di- 
vided by  3  gives  221  as  the  approximate  num- 
ber of  words  to  the  page.  If  the  matter  were 
solid  instead  of  leaded,  the  result  would  be 
369  -f-  10  -  --  36.9  ems;  x  21.6  =  797  ems; 
~-  3  =  266  words. 

It  must  be  understood  that  this  number  of 
words  to  the  page  is  approximate  only  as  one 
cannot  be  certain  that  100  words  selected  from 
one  part  of  the  manuscript  will  equal  the  same 
number  of  ems  in  100  words  taken  from  an- 
other part.  There  is  also  the  matter  of  broken 
lines  at  the  end  of  paragraphs  to  be  considered. 
Hence  it  is  well,  when  an  estimation  of  space 
has  been  made  by  this  process,  to  add  5  per 
cent,  for  safety,  and  then  add  half  a  page  more 
for  each  chapter,  to  allow  for  breaks  at  the 
beginning  and  end.  Finally  add  a  page  each 
for  title,  copyright,  etc.,  and  blank  pages  to 
make  the  total  the  next  higher  multiple  of 
sixteen,  to  make  up  even  forms. 

It  must  be  noted  that  the  body  of  a  type, 
not  its  face,  determines  its  name,  and  as  some 
faces  are  larger  than  the  normal  for  the  body ; 
and  others  smaller,  according  to  the  taste  of 
the  typefounder  or  the  customer,  it  is  difficult, 
even  for  an  expert,  to  always  tell  by  a  glance 


272  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

at  the  face  what  the  size  may  be.  This  can, 
however,  be  readily  determined  by  the  number 
of  lines  there  are  to  an  inch  of  solid  matter. 
It  should  also  be  remembered  that  sizes  are 
proportioned  to  each  other  not  in  the  ratio  of 
points  in  their  name,  but  in  that  of  the  square 
thereof.  Thus,  the  space  occupied  by  solid 
10-point  matter  is  proportioned  to  the  space 
occupied  by  solid  8-point  matter,  not  as  10  to 
8,  but  as  100  to  64,  because  the  10-point  is 
sized  on  a  scale  of  10  horizontally  and  perpen- 
dicularly, and  the  8-point  is  similarly  sized 
both  ways,  but  on  a  scale  of  8  only. 

The  proportionate  use  of  letters  in  printing 
is  as  follows: 

e_ 1000  d—  392  g  —  168 

t  _  770  1  —  360  b  —  158 

a_  728  u—  296  v—  120 

i  _  _  704  c  —  280  k  -      88 

s_  680  m—  272  j-      55 

o  —  672  f  —  236  q  -      50 

n__  670  w—  190  x-      46 

h  —  540  y  —  184  z  -      22 

r  —  528  p  —  168 

making  a  total  of  5,977  consonants  and  3,400 
vowels. 

In  the  matter  of  initial  letters  the  propor- 
tion is  as  follows: 

s— 1194  i  --  377  v—  172 

c—  937  e—  340  n—  153 


TYPOGRAPHY  273 

p  —  804  h  —  308  j  -L-    69 

a  _  574  1  -  -  298  q  -      58 

t  __  571  r  —  291  k-     47 

d—  505  \v—  272  y-      32 

b  __  463  g  —  266  z  -      18 

m—  439  u  —  228  x-       4 

f  __  388  o  —  206 

Type  Faces.  In  regard  to  type  faces,  while 
there  are  certain  'stand-bys'  of  the  modern 
printer  and  certain  recognized  standards  for 
book  and  newspaper  work,  the  variety,  in  gen- 
eral, is  almost  endless.  These  varieties  are  used 
principally  in  advertising  display  and  in  job 
and  fancy  printing.  There  are  also  differences 
in  width  of  face,  which  render  type  'fat'  or 
'lean';  if  the  difference  is  quite  marked  this 
type  is  'extended,'  or  'condensed.' 

Among  the  standard  faces,  ROMAN  is  a 
general  name  for  the  character  used  as  a  text 
letter  by  the  English-speaking  and  the  Latin 
races.  It  is  subdivided  into : 

'Old  style,'  in  which  the  hair-line  is 
comparatively  thick  and  short,  and  the 
stem  is  protracted  to  great  length  before 
it  tapers  to  the  hair-line.  The  serif  is 
short,  angular  and  stubby,  making  the 
general  effect  one  of  angularity.  The 
figures  1234567890,  have  as- 
cending and  descending  strokes  that  ren- 
der them  undesirable  for  use  in  tabular 
matter.  This  type  is  not  the  most  desir- 
able for  technical  books. 

'Modern-face,'  or  'modern,'  as  it  is  com- 


274  ENGINEEEING  LITERATURE 

monly  called,  has  a  sharp  and  long  hair- 
line, with  a  relatively  short  stem.  The 
serif  is  longer,  lighter,  and  more  grace- 
fully curved  than  in  old  style.  The  gen- 
eral effect  is  that  of  roundness,  precision 
and  symmetry.  In  this  face  the  figures, 
1234567890  are  in  a  line  at  both  top 
and  bottom. 

ANTIQUE  differs  from  roman  in  the  bold- 
ness of  its  lines  :  stem,  serif  and  hair-line  are 
always  of  greater  thickness;  the  corners  are 
square,  and  the  general  effect  is  blackness 
and  squareness. 

GOTHIC  is  the  name  of  a  heavy 
black  type  that  has  neither  serif 
nor  hair-line.  It  is  the  plainest  of 
all  styles  and  is  preferred  by  many 
advertisers  for  display  purposes, 
but  is  rarely  used  in  book  work. 

ITALIC  is  a  simplified  style  of  discon- 
nected script.  Its  capitals  differ  from  roman 
mainly  in  their  inclination. 


/i>£  ^Ju/i 


tatio 


ar-e     mtation!  o 


ever-u  one 

it  moaei/ea  on  tome  /or-m  o/  wman. 
iftitea  a/moif  entwe/u  /or-  fowvate 

ff    /        /  < 

Among  other  faces  used  principally  in 
advertisements,  circular  matter,  advertising 
pamphlets,  side  headings  in  books,  titles, 
etc.,  are  the  following,  shown  in  10-point 
alphabets  : 


TYPOGRAPHY  275 

CHELTENHAM 

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ  &$q 
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz  !?  1234567890 


CASLON 
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ^ 

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz  !?  1234567890 

DEVINNE 

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ  &$ 
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz  !?  1234567890 

BOOKMAN 

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ  £&$ 
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz  !?  1234567890 

STRATHMORE 

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ  $ 
abcdef  ghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz  !?  1  234567890&, 

Electrotypes.  A  book  may  be  printed  from 
the  type  itself  or  from  electrotype  plates 
made  from  the  type.  The  latter  save  money 
if  there  are  many  copies  to  be  issued  and  also 
if  it  is  not  desired  to  print  a  large  number  at 
any  one  time,  to  be  stored  in  bound  form  or 
in  sheets.  The  copper  surface  of  the  electro- 
type wears  better  than  type  metal,  the  num- 
ber of  possible  impressions  being  from  one  to 
six  hundred  thousand,  according  to  the  care 


276  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

with  which  the  plates  and  the  work  are  han- 
dled. 

Presswork  is  the  general  name  for  that  part 
of  the  printing  process  done  by  the  presses. 
Newspapers  are  usually  printed  on  'cylinder' 
presses  from  rolls  of  paper,  but  books,  with 
the  exception  perhaps  of  cheap  fiction,  are 
printed  on  separate  sheets  on  'platen'  or  'flat- 
bed' presses.  As  sixteen  pages  (and  sometimes 
thirty-two)  are  printed  at  a  time  in  book  work, 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  press-work  is  one  of 
the  smaller  items  of  expense  in  most  books, 
for  compared  with  the  cost  of  composition,  it 
is  not  a  considerable  matter  to  run  off  a  few 
hundred  pages. 

A  laborious,  and  sometimes  the  most  expen- 
sive, part  of  the  task  is  the  'make-ready.' 
If  every  part  of  a  sheet  of  paper  were  to  get 
precisely  the  same  impression  against  the  face 
of  type,  equally  and  uniformly  inked,  stand- 
ing exactly  the  same  height  on  a  perfectly 
level  bed,  the  result  would  be  complete  uni- 
formity of  appearance.  But  unfortunately 
there  are  generally  minute  variations  in  all 
these  details.  Almost  infinitesimal  variations 
in  the  height  of  type,  more  commonly  found 
where  different  fonts  are  used  in  the  same 
form,  require  attention.  These  deficiencies  are 
made  up  by  putting  pieces  of  paper  in  front 
of  the  type  (beneath  the  sheet  to  be  printed), 
which  process  is  called  'overlaying';  or  behind 


PROOF-READING  277 

the  type,  called  'underlaying'.  It  may  seem 
strange  that  the  thickness  of  a  piece  of  paper 
put  under  part  of  a  solid  electrotype  or  cut 
can  bring  out  the  surface  above  it  more  dis- 
tinctly; but  this  is  the  case.  Even  a  copper 
faced  or  solid  leaden  block  weighing  pounds 
and  apparently  inflexible,  can  be  sprung 
enough  by  pieces  of  paper  under  parts  of  it 
to  make  the  opposite  surface  give  a  stronger 
impression.  This  is  not  necessary  for  the  rea- 
son alone  that  there  may  be  minute  variations 
in  the  thickness  of  the  block.  Even  when  all 
parts  of  the  block  are  of  precisely  the  same 
thickness,  treatment  may  be  desirable,  by  rea- 
son of  the  fact  that  it  takes  more  pressure  to 
bring  out  a  dark  surface  than  a  light  surface. 
A  pressure  of  ten  pounds  may  be  enough  for 
thin  lines  where  ten  times  that  would  be  re- 
quired for  solid  black.  Every  part  of  a  cut, 
therefore,  may  need  a  different  degree  of  pres- 
sure; hence  overlaying  and  underlaying  call 
for  some  considerable  degree  of  skill  and  care. 

PROOF-READING 

When  the  manuscript  has  been  set  in  type, 
the  printer  makes  a  "proof"  which  is  sent  to 
the  author  for  his  approval.  The  first  proof 
shows  the  condition  of  the  type  in  the  "gal- 
ley,"* this  is  followed  by  the  second,  third, 

*  The  "galley"  is  a  flat,  oblong  tray,  long-  and  nar- 
row, flang-ed  on  one  or  both  sides,  used  for  holding 
the  type  in  position  in  lines. 


278  ENGINEERING  LITEEATURE 

etc.  proofs  as  the  work  progresses,  showing 
the  corrections  made  in  the  previous  proofs; 
the  make-up  in  pages  (page-proofs) ;  the  final 
arrangement  of  the  type  in  frames  for  casting 
into  plates  (foundry-proofs)  ;  the  casting  of  the 
type  into  electroplates  for  use  in  printing 
(plate-proofs),  and  finally  a  "press-proof" 
showing  the  work  on  the  press,  made  up  in 
forms,  and  on  the  paper  to  be  used  in  the  book. 

Two  sets  of  proofs  are  usually  sent  to  the 
author — one  for  corrections  (Author's  Proof), 
to  be  corrected  and  returned  to  the  printer, 
and  one  to  be  held  by  himself  for  reference. 
The  adding  of  new  matter  and  the  changing 
of  arrangement  of  old  in  this  proof,  known 
as  "Author's  Alterations,"  adds  quickly  to 
the  cost  of  making  of  a  book  and  should  be 
avoided  as  much  as  possible.  Before  submit- 
ting the  manuscript  to  a  publisher  the  author 
should  be  very  sure  that  he  has  finished  it  and 
that  it  will  not  later  require  the  addition  of 
new  matter  or  changes  in  phrasing,  in  ar- 
rangement, for  the  reasons  already  mentioned 
on  page  121. 

If  this  is  the  ease  and  all  the  suggestions 
previously  outlined  have  been  followed,  proof- 
reading will  resolve  itself  merely  into  the  cor- 
rection of  typographical  errors.  Rules  for 
this  work  are  simple;  the  proper  signs  should 
be  learned  thoroughly  and  it  should  only  be 
necessary  to  admonish  care  and  accuracy  in 


PROOFREADING  279 

their  application.  Proofreading  demands  care- 
ful attention.  It  is  extremely  annoying,  both 
to  author  and  publisher,  to  be  compelled  to 
insert  a  page  or  two  of  "Errata"  into  a  com- 
pleted work.  This  can  be  obviated  by  the 
exercise  of  proper  care  in  the  comparison  of 
proofs  and  manuscript — assuming  the  latter 
to  be  letter  perfect — and  the  distinct  notation 
of  disagreements  on  the  proofs  for  the  guid- 
ance of  the  printer.  These  corrections  should 
be  made  with  black  ink  or  a  soft,  black  pencil. 
The  " proof"  is  made  by  laying  a  damp 
sheet  of  proof  paper  over  the  type  as  it  stands 
on  the  "stone"*  and  getting  the  impression 
by  pounding  it  with  a  mallet  on  a  wooden 
block,  or  by  rolling  a  felt-covered  cylinder 
over  the  paper.  This  damp  paper  seldom  takes 
a  sharp  and  uniform  impression  of  all  the  type, 
so  that  a  proof  must  never  be  expected  to  show 
the  printing  as  it  will  appear  in  the  finished 
work.  Often  the  proof  will  show  letters,  ap- 
parently defective,  but  in  reality  but  poor  im- 
pressions, and  as  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to 
tell  which  is  the  case,  it  is  best  to  be  on  the 
safe  side  and  mark  all  letters  that  appear  de- 
fective. When  a  mark  has  been  made  in  the 
proof  and  is  then  found  incorrect,  it  should 
not  be  erased  with  a  rubber,  but  should  be 
cancelled  and  marked  "stet."  Proofs  always 
have  a  blank  margin  on  each  side  of  the  type 

*  The  slab  or  table,  with  a  stone  or  metal  top,  per- 
fectly  smooth  and  level,   on  which  forms  are  made  up. 


280  ENGINEEEING  LITEKATUKE 

and  every  correction  in  the  text  should  have 
a  corresponding  mark  in  this  margin,  on  the 
side  nearer  the  error  and  as  nearly  opposite 
it  as  possible.  Where  there  are  so  many  er- 
rors about  one  spot  that  confusion  is  likely  to 
arise  if  corrected  in  the  ordinary  way,  strike 
out  the  passage  and  re-write  it  as  it  is  wanted 
in  print,  in  the  margin. 

MARKS  USED  IN  CORRECTING  PROOFS 
The  most  frequent  errors  are : 

1.  Improper  Spacing  of  Lines  and  Words, 

which  includes  also  errors  of  indenta- 
tion. Errors  in  spacing  of  words  and  lines 
can  readily  be  detected  but  the  errors  of  spac- 
ing punctuation  need  more  careful  attention. 
For  instance,  observation  will  show  that  the 
comma  and  the  period  are  set  close  to  the 
words  they  follow,  while  the  semi-colon  and 
the  colon  are  set  off  the  distance  of  a  thin 
space.  Sometimes  spacing  between  words  in 
different  lines  is  not  uniform,  on  account  of 
an  effort  on  the  part  of  the  compositor  to  avoid 
dividing  a  word  at  the  end  of  a  line.  Unless 
this  spacing  is  decidedly  too  small  or  too  large 
for  good  appearance,  it  should  not  be  altered. 

2.  Transpositions  and  Misplaced  Matter  are 
frequently  caused  by  the  rapid  operation  of  the 
type-setting  machine  and  should  be  easily  de- 
tected.    In  hand-set  type  there  are  often  in- 


PROOF-BEADING  281 

verted  letters  and  wrong  fonts.*  These  are 
amongst  the  most  difficult  errors  to  detect.  The 
author  should  study  the  appearance  of  similar 
letters  and  of  inverted  letters.  For  example, 
in  the  following  cases,  the  first  character  is 
correct;  the  second  is  the  same  character  in- 
verted : 

b-q  n— u  '— < 

d— p  o—o  ,  — ' 

p  — d  u — n  : — : 

q— b  s— s  .— ' 

1— t  x— x 

3.  Incorrect    Spelling",    meaning    errors    in 
spelling    made    by   the    compositor.      A   word 
spelled  correctly  in  the  copy  might  very  pos- 
sibly be  spelled  incorrectly  in  the  proof.   Such 
errors  require  close  attention  and  a  knowledge 
of  correct  spelling  by  the  proof-reader.    In  this 
connection  it  should  be  noted  that  when  fi  and 
ffi  come  together,  the  logotypes  fi  and  ffi  should 
be  used. 

4.  Omissions  frequently  occur  by  matter  be- 
ing overlooked  by  the  compositor. 

5.  Too  Much  Matter,  consisting  principally 
in  duplication   of  whole  lines  by  compositor. 

It  is  customary  in  city  printing  offices  at 
least,  for  a  proof  to  be  read  by  the  printer 
before  it  is  sent  to  the  author,  for  the  pur- 


*  Meaning-  kind,  or  style  of  face,  of  type.  A  "font" 
is  a  complete  assortment  of  any  one  kind  or  type,  11 
which  the  quantity  of  each  character  bears  a  certain 
proportion  to  the  rest. 


282  ENGINEEEING  LITERATURE 

pose  of  correcting  compositor's  errors.  If 
there  are  many  of  these,  they  are  corrected 
before  the  first  Author's  Proof  is  made;  if 
there  are  very  few,  the  corrected  proof  itself 
is  sent  to  the  author  for  his  further  correc- 
tions and  approval. 

In  connection  with  the  work  of  the  com- 
positor, Robert  Luce  says  in  his  "Writing  for 
the  Press":  "Count  the  letters,  punctuation 
marks  and  spaces  on  the  page  of  an  ordinary 
novel,  and  you  may  be  surprised  to  find  that 
there  are  between  one  and  two  thousand 
pieces  of  metal  in  its  composition.  It  would 
indeed  be  strange  if  every  one  of  these  should 
be  accurately  placed  on  the  first  attempt.  The 
wonder  is  not  that  many  changes  may  be 
required,  but  that  good  compositors  can  fur- 
nish such  clean  proofs.  The  chance  for  error 
is  indeed  so  great  that  accuracy  should  never 
be  assumed,  and  there  should  be  no  complaint 
that  error  is  present.  Eternal  vigilance  is 
the  only  safe  rule  for  anyone  who  has  to  do 
with  printers,  not  because  they  are  more  fal- 
lible than  anybody  else,  but  because  the 
chance  for  them  to  do  the  wrong  thing  is  so 
great.  Give  them  credit  for  the  surprisingly 
large  percentage  of  accuracy." 

"Where  words  or  lines  are  cancelled  or  altered, 
ter  of  the  same  length  as  the  original,  thus 
it  is  often  possible  to  make  the  substitute  mat- 


PROOF  READING  283 

obviating  some  of  the  troubles  incident  to  a 
re-make-up   of  a  paragraph   or  page. 

In  the  printing  office  proof  is  read  by  two 
persons,  one  following  the  proof  (the  proof- 
reader), while  the  other  reads  from  the  origi- 
nal manuscript  (the  copy-holder).  An  author 
can  generally  read  proofs  by  himself,  as  know- 
ing his  subject  thoroughly,  he  will  not  need  to 
compare  every  item  of  spelling,  punctuation, 
spacing,  etc.,  as  the  printer's  proof-reader  does. 
All  formulas  and  mathematical  expressions, 
tables,  etc.,  should,  however,  be  carefully  com- 
pared. 

The  printer  sends  the  author  his  original 
copy  with  the  first  proof,  for  comparison ; 
with  the  second,  or  revised,  proof  is  sent  the 
previously  corrected  proof,  and  in  this  all  cor- 
rections should  be  carefully  checked.  This 
need  seldom  be  read  entirely,  as  it  has  already 
been  read  and  all  that  should  be  necessary  is 
to  see  that  the  corrections  marked  have  been 
made.  But  in  the  case  of  page-proofs  it  is  impor- 
tant that  they  should  be  examined  for  errors 
made  after  all  corrections  have  been  checked.  It 
should  be  seen  that  no  lines  have  been  trans- 
posed or  omitted,  especially  at  the  bottom  and 
top  of  the  pages;  that  the  running  heads  are 
correct ;  that  tables  are  properly  arranged  and 
divided;  that  page  numbers  are  in  proper  se- 


284  ENGINEEEING  LITERATURE 

quence  and  at  the  right  corners,  and  that  the 
end  letters  of  lines  and  particularly  that  punc- 
tuation marks  have  not  been  dropped  out  in  the 
make-up  of  the  page. 

When  there  is  any  uncertainty  on  the  part 
of  the  printer's  proof-reader  in  regard  to  spell- 
ing, construction,  or  arrangement,  he  puts  a 
question  mark  ( ?)  or  writes  "Qy."  (Query)  in 
the  margin,  together  with  his  suggestions  for 
improvement  if  he  has  any  to  offer.  The  author 
should  in  all  cases  note  these  questions  and 
decide  the  point,  by  writing  his  decision  and 
striking  out  the  (?)  or  "Qy."  of  the  proof- 
reader. Make  no  more  comments  than  are  ab- 
solutely necessary ;  do  not  argue  with  the  print- 
er; his  duty  is  to  set  up  your  manuscript  as 
you  want  it;  merely  reply  "Yes"  or  "No"  or 
otherwise,  as  briefly  as  possible  to  all  questions. 

A  writer  when  he  makes  his  final  arrange- 
ments with  his  publisher  should  stipulate  the 
fact  if  he  wants  "galley  proof,"  as  it  is  the 
custom  with  some  publishers  and  printers  to 
assume  that  an  author 's  manuscript  is  complete 
and  correct  and  not  to  send  him  any  proofs 
until  the  manuscript  is  made  up  into  pages. 

On  returning  a  proof  to  the  printer  mark  it 
'0.  K. '  or  'O.  K.  as  corrected,'  with  your  name 
or  initials,  that  he  may  know  that  the  proof 
has  been  read  and  passed  by  the  right  man. 


PROOF-READING  285 

Marks  used  to  correct  a  proof  sheet 

cS  Delete  :  take  out,  or  expunge. 

\V.  Restore  or  retain  words  which  have  been  crossed  out;    stet 
usually  being  written  in  the  margin. 

O   Turn  a  reversed  letter 
Ct.,  Transpose 

/&  A  space,  or  more  space,  between  words,  letters  or  lines. 

^O  Less  space,  or  no  space,  between  words  or  letteft. 

£"J   Carry  a  word  or  line  farther  to  the  left,  or  to  the  right. 

{7  Indent. 

T  Elevate  a  letter,  word,  or  character  that  is  sunk  below  the 
proper  level. 

U*   Sink  or  depress  a  letter,  word  or  character  raised  above  the 
proper  level. 

L    Shows  that  a  portion  of  a  paragraph  projects  laterally  be- 
yond the  rest. 

^  Directs  attention  to  a  quadrat  or  space  which  improperly 
appears. 

X   Directs  attention  to  broken  or  imperfect  type 
j=-  Straighten  (a  crooked  line  or  lines) 
ftC"  Print  as  a  diphthong. 
~a*  Make  a  new  paragraph. 
Put  in  italics. 
Change  from  italics  to  roman. 

Put.  in  SMALL  CAPITALS. 

Put  in  CAPITALS. 

'/»    Wrong  font  —  used  when  a  character  is  of  a  wrong  size  or  style 
I.C.     Lower  case;  that  is,  put  in  small  or  common  letters 
Q/     Query;  is  this  right? 
£tf.    Words  are  omitted,  or  are  wanting,  sec  copy 


This  and  the  two  following  pages  have  been  repro- 
duced, by  permission,  from  pamphlet  entitled  "Style 
Brief,"  by  C.  Bowyer  Vaux,  and  published  by  The  Wistar 
Institute  of  Anatomy  and  Biology,  Philadelphia. 


286  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 


is  set  by  the  compositor  is  placed  on  a  rectangular^1""" 
brass  trayfa\calledJ0aHei/.    When  the  take  is  completely  set  by  the 
/    compositor,  the  galley  of  type  is  handed  to  the  proof-press  operator  / 

and  a  galley  proof  is  taken.    The  galley  "  proof,  together^with^ts      Sj  *£/ 
take  of  manuscript,  is  sent  to  the  proof  room.    The  compositor       ' 
begins^Mon  another  take  and  the  galley  of  type  is  filed  away 
on  the  4E*  galley  rack.  / 

The  first  galley  proof,  known  as  the  (£ffice)  PROOF,  is  read    &£  I 
twice.    The  proofreader  follows  on  the  galley  as  the  copy  is  read 
aloud  by  his  helper,  known  as  the^copvj/iokfer.    Words  omitted 
in  the  type  and  most  of  the  ordinary  'Typographical  Jurors  are  £c.f  <,ffJ 
thus  detected.    The  proof  is  rea^d  again  by  the  reader  for  sense,        '        ' 
construction  and  style,  as  it  is  impossible  at  one  reading  to  detect      / 
alLof  this  class.  ^H/  ^// 

>QThe  manuscript  is  held  in  the  proofroom  and  the  office  proof 
is  sent  back  to  the  composing  room.    With  thisjrApof  in  hand,  "fc/ 

/a  compositor  gets  the  galley  of  type  and  picks  out  the  pieces  of 
[finetal  that  are  placed  wrong,  —  correctable  type  by  the  proof, 
letter  by  letter.  After  a  type  correction  has  been  made  (that  is, 
the  taking  out  of  metal  pieces  from  a  line  and  replacing  them  by 

/other  type  pieces),  the  line  in  every  case  must  be  justified  to  its 
exact  standard  length  by  chan  ging  the^between  the  words. 
^  /         ^hen  the  galley  of  type  haTbeen  corrected,  a  second  proof  is 
'        taken  and  sent  to  the  proof  room  together  with  the  office  proof. 
galley  of  type  is  again  filed  away.AA  proofreader  carefully 
compares  the  clean  proof  with  the  first  or  foul  proof  to  make  cer- 
tain  that  the  compositor  has  made  all  the  corrections  aoquratplyr]  &&T  /  J  /' 
flf  any  errors  are  Detected,  they  are  marked  in  ink  on  the  new  b.l.l  '      / 


proof.    This  proof,  accompanied  by  the  manuscript,  is  then  sent 
from  the  printer  to  the  author  and  is  known  as  the  author's  . 
j      galley  proof.^  If  yWuscripts  could  be  written^in  the  style  of  Q 
'  1  the  publication,  and  compositors  could  set  type  exactly  according    I 
/  to  copy  and  free  from  errors,  then  all  the  expensive  labor  of  proof 
/reading  and  type  correcting  would  be  eliminated.       TYPOTHET^.    «£  / 


PEOOF-READING  287 


A  corrected  proof 

TYPE  as  it  is  set  by  the  compositor  is  placed  on  a  rectangular 
brass  tray  called  a  galley.  When  the  take  is  completely  set  by  the 
compositor,  the  galley  of  type  is  handed  to  the  proof  press-operator 
and  a  galley  proof  is  taken.  The  galley  proof,  together  with  its 
take  of  manuscript,  is  sent  to  the  proof  room.  The  compositor 
begins  work  on  another  take  and  the  galley  of  type  is  filed  away 
on  the  galley  rack. 

The  first  galley  proof,  known  as  the  OFFICE  PROOF,  is  read 
twice.  The  proofreader  follows  on  the  galley  as  the  copy  is  read 
aloud  by  his  helper,  known  as  the  copy  holder.  Words  omitted 
in  the  type  and  most  of  the  ordinary  typographical  errors  are 
thus  detected.  The  proof  is  read  again  by  the  reader  for  sense, 
construction  and  style,  as  it  is  impossible  at  one  reading  to  detect 
all  errors  of  this  class. 

The  manuscript  is  held  in  the  p/oof  room  and  the  office  proof 
is  sent  back  to  the  composing  room.  With  this  proof  in  hand, 
a  compositor  gets  the  galley  of  type  and  picks  out  the  pieces  of 
metal  that  are  placed  wrong, — corrects  the  type  by  the  proof, 
letter  by  letter.  After  a  type  correction  has  been  made  (that  is, 
the  taking  out  of  metal  pieces  from  a  line  and  replacing  them  by 
other  type  pieces),  the  line  in  every  case  must  be  justified  to  its 
exact  standard  length  by  changing  the  spaces  between  the  words. 

When  the  galley  of  type  has  been  corrected,  a  second  proof  is 
taken  and  sent  to  the  proof  room  together  with  the  office  proof. 
The  galley  of  type  is  again  filed  away.  A  proofreader  carefully 
compares  the  clean  proof  with  the  first  or  foul  proof  to  make  cer- 
tain that  the  compositor  has  made  all  the  corrections  accurately, 
If  any  errors  are  detected,  they,  are  marked  in  ink  on  the  new 
proof.  This  proof,  accompanied  by  the  manuscript,  is  then  sent 
from  the  printer  to  the  author  and  is  known  as  the  author's 
galley  proof. 

If  manuscripts  could  be  written  eorrectly  in  the  style  of  the 
publication,  and  compositors  could  set  type  exactly  according  to 
copy  and  free  from  errors,  then  all  the  expensive  labor  of  proof- 
reading and  type  correcting  would  be  eliminated.  TYPOTHEIVE. 


288  ENGIN"EEKING  LITERATUEE 

Making  up  the  Book.  The  generally  recog- 
nized arrangement  of  the  parts  of  the  book  is 
as  follows: 

Half-title,  or  'Bastard  Title'  (common  in 
fiction  but  now  seldom  used  in  technical 
books), — on  right-hand  page,  or  first  page 
of  book.  The  reverse  page  should  be 
blank. 

Frontispiece,  on  the  left-hand  page,  facing 
title.  When  this  is  used,  the  preceding 
page  (or  page  1)  is  blank. 

Full  Title,  on  the  right-hand  page,  or  page  3. 

Copyright,  on  left-hand  page  (page  4),  back- 
ing the  title. 

Dedication,  when  used,  on  right-hand  page 
(page  5)  facing  copyright  notice.  The  re- 
verse page  (page  6)  is  left  blank. 

Preface  follows  on  right-hand  page.  If 
there  is  no  dedication,  this  follows  the 
copyright  notice.  There  is  no  specified 
length  for  the  preface  but  it  is  usually 
made  up  to  occupy  an  even  number  of 
pages,  so  that  it  will  close  on  the  left- 
hand  page. 

Contents  follow  on  right-hand  page,  which 
is  followed  by  List  of  Illustrations  or  Text, 
right-hand  page ;  then  the  Appendix  when 
necessary,  and  Index. 

Errata  sheet,  when  inserted,  should  face  first 
page  of  text  or  follow  table  of  contents. 

RULES  FOR  MAKE-UP  OF  PERIODICALS 

Every  publishing  house  has  its  own  set  of 
"Rules"  covering  its  policy  in  regard  to 
typography,  orthography,  punctuation,  abbre- 


MAKE-UP.  OF  PEEIODICALS  289 

viation,  etc.  As  mentioned  on  page  30,  these 
rules  are  sometimes  made  up  in  printed  form 
for  the  benefit  of  contributors,  whose  observ- 
ance of  the  specifications  adds  to  -the  possibility 
of  acceptance  of  their  manuscripts,  and  their 
early  publication.  In  many  cases  also  it  is  of 
financial  benefit  to  the  contributors,  on  account 
of  the  saving  of  time  of  the  publisher's  editors. 
A  typical  set  of  such  "Rules"  is  given  below: 

RULES  FOR  THE  MAKE-UP  OF 
ENGINEERING  NEWS. 

MARCH,  1906. 

[The  "Century  Dictionary"  and  De  Vinne's  "Prac- 
tice of  Typography"  are  to  be  followed  in  matters 
not  here  specified.] 

All  reading  matter  is  to  be  set  in  minion  lead  or 
nonpareil  lead  or  solid. 

In  general,  original  contributions,  staff  articles  and 
editorials  are  set  in  minion;  all  matter  reprinted 
from  other  sources,  Letters  to  the  Editor,  news  notes, 
and  tabular  matter  in  all  articles,  are  set  in  nonpa- 
reil. 

QUOTATIONS. 

Quotes  are  to  be  used  for  names  of  ships,  railway 
cars  and  the  like,  and  newspapers,  except  Engineer- 
ing News,  thus:  The  racing-yacht  "Columbia";  the 
private  car  "Albemarle";  the  Toledo  "Bee"  of  March 
18,  1905. 

Quotes  are  to  be  used  in  other  cases  when  so 
marked  in  copy.  When  a  word,  phrase  or  sentence 
is  reproduced  from  another  place,  it  will  be  quoted. 
Longer  quotations  will  be  distinguished  by  change  of 
type  arrangement,  as  follows: 

When  occurring  in  nonpareil  matter  all  quotations, 
and  in  minion  matter  all  quotations  less  than  3  ins. 
high  will  be  set  nonpareil  solid.  In  minion  matter, 


290  ENGINEEKING  LITERATURE 

quotations  exceeding  3  ins.  in  height  will  be  set  non- 
pareil lead.  In  nonpareil  solid  matter,  quotations 
will  have  quotes  at  beginning  and  end  of  the  quota- 
tion. When  a  quotation  begins  in  the  middle  of  a 
sentence  do  not  indent  first  line. 

In  these  and  all  other  cases  of  change  of  type  with- 
in an  article  (except  when  set  off  by  center  dashes) 
the  two  kinds  of  matter  will  be  separated  by  two 
leads  above  and  below. 

NOTES. 

Footnotes,  or  explanatory  notes,  preceding  or  ac- 
companying articles  or  engravings,  to  be  all  nonpa- 
reil solid. 

Notes  appended  to  Letters  will  be  set  in  minion 
lead,  will  be  enclosed  in  brackets,  and  will  always 
terminate  thus:  — Ed.] 

Notes  by  the  Editor  appended  to,  or  occurring  in, 
minion  matter  printed  under  a  signature,  will  be  set 
minion  lead,  will  be  enclosed  in  brackets,  and  will  be 
followed  by  — Ed.],  as  for  Letter  notes. 

Notes  and  Queries  are  set  wholly  in  nonpareil, 
using  nonpareil  solid  for  direct  quotations  from  let- 
ters or  otherwise. 

TITLES  AND  HEADINGS. 

TITLES  OF  ARTICLES  AND  LETTERS  are  to 
be  in  De  Vinne  type  (8  point).  Titles  of  articles  are 
to  be  all  caps,  titles  of  letters  c.  &  1.  c.* 

In  articles  printed  under  a  signature,  the  title  will 
be  followed  by  the  author's  name  and  titles  set  in 
minion. 

A  SHORT  FORM  OF  STADIA  RECORD 

By  H.  Franklin,  Jr.,  Assoc.  M.  Am.  Soc.  C.  E. 

Sub-Heads. — Articles  may  be  divided  by  sub-heads 
of  four  orders:  1.  Center  Heading,  caps.  2.  Side 
Heading,  caps.  3.  (Rarely)  Side  Heading,  c.  &  1.  c. 
(In  exceptional  cases,  also)  4.  De  Vinne  c.  &  1.  c. 
8-point  may  be  used  for  center  heads  of  superior 
order  to  the  Roman  caps. 

*  This  rule  has  since  been  changed  in  regard  to 
style  of  type  used,  and  in  respect  to  giving  greater 
prominence  to  subheads. 


MAKE-UP  OF  PERIODICALS  291 

Except  for  the  use  of  De  Vinne,  just  noted,  center 
and  side  heads  will  be  of  the  same  size  type  as  the 
article  itself. 

TITLES  OF  TABLES.—  These  will  always  be  in 
nonpareil  caps;  and  in  following  style: 

TABLE     II.—  RADII     OF    ACTION    OF   BATTLESHIPS. 

(On  Basis  of  Most  Favorable  Speed,  as  Shown  by  Fig.  1.) 

TITLES  OF  CUTS.—  Titles  of  Cuts  shall  be  in  7- 

point  Gothic  type,  and  shall  be  c.   &  1.   c.   for  one- 

column  (or  smaller)   cuts  and  all  caps  for  cuts  over 

one  column  wide.     They  will  ordinarily  be  preceded 

by  fig.  numbers,  thus: 

Fig.  3.     View  of  Machine  Shop  During  Erection 

Showing  Crane  Girders. 

When  a  group  of  cuts  has  a  common  title  in  addi- 
tion to  the  individual  titles,  the  latter  will  be  set 
c.  &  1.  c.,  irrespective  of  width,  while  the  common 
title  will  be  all  caps. 

DASHES,  RULES  AND  PAGE  HEADINGS. 

All  articles  will  be  followed  by  the  heavy  dash: 

except  that  ed.  notes,  letters  and  news  notes  will  use 
the  news  note  dash: 


But  any  group  of  ed.  notes,  news  notes  or  letters 
will  be  preceded  and  followed  by  the  heavy  dash. 
Short  rule  dashes  may  be  used  for  special  purposes. 

The  page  of  Engineering  News  measures  8%  x  11% 
ins.  over  the  type.  Above  the  type  a  full-width  rule 
shall  be  used.  Heading,  date,  page  and  issue  number 
will  be  placed  directly  over  the  rule,  separated  from 
it  by  a  single  lead.  Each  page  of  the  main  sheet  of 
Engineering  News  will  have  the  center  heading 

Engineering  News 

set  in  10-point  Old  Style  type,  wide-spaced.  The  even- 
numbered  pages  of  the  Engineering  Literature  and 
Construction  News  supplements  will  have  center 
headings  of  the  style 

Engineering  Literature 

and  the  odd-numbered  pages  will  have  the  center 
heading 

Supplement  to  Engineering  News 


292  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

in  the  type  and  arrangement  noted.  The  outer  cor- 
ner of  each  page  will  bear  the  page  number  in  10- 
point  type,  and  the  inner  corner  will  bear  the  legend 

Vol. .     No. . 

in  case  of  the  even-numbered  pages,  and 

Month ,  19—, 

in  case  of  the  odd-numbered  pages. 

This  matter  will  be  set  level  with  the  page  head- 
ing, and  two  ems  from  the  edge  of  the  rule,  the 
latter  being  the  width  of  the  three-column  type  body. 

USE  OF  NUMERALS. 

IN  GENERAL,  A.— USE  NUMERALS  FOR  ALL 
NUMBERS  EXCEEDING  12,  and  B.— SPELL  OUT 
ALL  NUMERALS  FROM  ONE  TO  TWELVE. 

The  exception  to  A  is  only  where  round  numbers 
are  used  in  a  vague  sense,  as  in  "a  thousand  men 
taken  at  random,"  or  "five  hundred  different  reasons 
may  be  given,"  where  they  should  be  spelled  out. 

The  exceptions  to  B  are  as  follows: 

USE  NUMERALS  FOR  NUMBERS  1  TO  12  ONLY 
AS  FOLLOWS: 

Bl.  When  the  number  is  followed  by  a  decimal 
or  vulgar  fraction.  Never  spell  out  l1/^,  2%,  etc. 

B2.  When  the  number  is  followed  by  a  word  hav- 
ing an  authorized  abbreviation,  as  "2  ft.,"  "6  oz.," 
"1  in."  EXCEPTING  when  the  statement  is  vague 
in  its  nature,  as  when  the  word  "about"  is  used  or 
implied,  as  in  "some  six  feet  beyond,"  when  spell  out. 

B3.  In  a  series  of  two  or  more  connected  or  con- 
trasted numerical  statements,  if  some  of  the  numbers 
must  be  numerals  under  rule  A,  use  numerals  for 
all  as  "2  men  were  killed  and  16  or  18  injured." 

B4.  In  a  series  of  connected  numerical  statements 
where  precision  is  implied,  use  numerals  only;  as 
"2  foremen,  7  masons,  8  laborers."  EXCEPTING 
that  when  vagueness  is  implied,  and  the  numbers  are 
all  below  twelve,  spell  out,  as  in  "six  or  seven  miles," 
or  "two  men  were  killed  and  six  or  eight  injured." 

B5.  In  Construction  News  use  numerals  in  such 
expressions  as  7-story  building,  and  3-mile  railway. 

RULES    FOR    THE    SEPARATE    DEPARTMENTS. 
TABLE   OF  CONTENTS— Nonpareil   leaded. 


MAKE-UP  OF  PERIODICALS  293 

ENGINEERING  NEWS  NOTES.— Nonpareil  leaded, 
first  words  in  caps  as  underlined. 

PERSONALS.— Nonpareil  leaded.  One  lead  be- 
tween items.  "Mr."  or  other  titles  to  precede  name. 

ENGINEERING  SOCIETIES.— To  have  a  nonpa- 
reil cap,  side  head  for  name  of  Society. 

BOOK   REVIEWS    AND   TRADE   PUBLICATIONS 

to  be  set  in  this  style: 

POCKET  BOOK  OF  MECHANICS  AND  ENGINEERING.— 
Containing  a  Memorandum  of  Facts  and  Connection  of  Fact 
and  Theory.  By  John  W.  Nystrom,  C.  E.  Eighteenth  Edi- 
tion, Revised  and  Greatly  Enlarged.  Philadelphia:  J.  B. 
Lippincott  &  Co.  Leather;  4x6  ins.;  pp.  671;  114  tables,  17 
plates,  and  321  figures  in  the  text.  $3. 

Then  proceed  with  review,  which  for  the  Literature 
Supplement  will  be  set  in  minion  lead;  for  Trade 
Publications  in  nonpareil  leaded.  The  number  of  il- 
lustrations, etc.,  need  only  be  given  if  they  are  con- 
secutively numbered  in  the  volume. 

In  Engineering  Literature  Supplement  the  headings 
will  be  as  follows: 

CORRESPONDENCE. 


Books  on  Cement. 

That  is  all  main  divisions  in  De  Vinne  caps  and 
all  titles  in  D.  V.  c.  &  1.  c.* 

AUTHORIZED    ABBREVIATIONS. 

(Do   not   use   abbreviations   of   QUANTITY   except 
when  numerals  are  used.  Write  "1,000  ft."  or  "a  thou- 

<&   (for  to  or  at)   in  tables  only.  b.    1.    breech   loading    (in  list  of 

&     in    names    of    railways     or  ordnance.) 

firms     only,      as     "Brown     &  B.    M.    (board    measure)    in    the 

Smith,"    or    "A.    &   B.    Ry.";  expression    M     ft.    B.    M.) 

or   in   tables   when   needed   to  bu.   bushel    bushels 

save  space  B.   T.    u.    British  thermal  unit. 

&c.    (not    to  'be   used;    use    etc.  (When  so  in  copy;   otherwise 

prefer   h.    u.) 


.mp     aere,      Use    only    «.  e           name., 

ceptionally.  ct.    (cts.)   cents. 

a.  m.  before  noon.  c.  to  c.   (center  to  center),  pre- 

Aug.    (followed  by  numerals.)  ceded    either   by    numerals    or 

Ave.    (after  capitalized  name  of  the  word    "distance." 

avenue.)  C.     centigrade      (thermometer). 

bbl.,    bbls.  preceded  by  symbol  and  num- 

B.   HP.    brake  horsepower.  erals. 


294 


ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 


Chas.    (followed  by  surname.) 
cm.    centimeter. 

c.  m.    circular   mils. 

Co.  company    (preceded  by  name 

in  capitals.) 

Col.    (followed   by   name.) 
cu.    ins.,    cu.    ft.,    cu.    yd.,    etc. 
cu.   m.    (cubic  meter),   cu.   cm.. 

cu.    mm.    (c.   c.    may  be  used 

when    bacteria    per    cu.     cm. 

are  meant.) 
cwt.     Do  NOT  use. 

d.  pence. 

Dec.    (followed  by  numerals.) 
diam.    (in   some   cases:    use   op- 
tional;   follow    copy.) 
deg.    not    to    be    used.      Use    o 

symbol, 
o     '    "    degrees,     minutes    and 

seconds    (for  angles.) 
Dr.    Doctor,    followed   by   name. 
°F.    (Fahrenheit)    for   degrees. 
3C.     (Centigrade)     of    tempera- 
ture. 

3R.    (Reaumur.) 
i.   g.  for  example   (if  in  copy.) 
B.    HP.    electrical    horsepower. 
Eff.    HP.    effective   horse-power. 
B.    M.    F.    electro-motive    force. 
Bng.     News,     preceding     refer- 
ences to  issues  or  pages,  etc. 

(not  &c.) 
5t    seq.,    and    following    (if    so 

in  copy). 

Feb.    (followed  by  numerals.) 
Fig.    (followed  by  a  numeral.) 
fr.   franc,   francs, 
ft.   foot,    feet.* 
pral.;   gals,  gallon (s). 
Sen.    (followed  by  name.) 
Beo.    (followed   by    surname.) 
b.     hour,     in    combination    with 

"min."    or    "sec."    as    "2    h. 

20    min.,"    but    spell    out    for 

"22  hours,"   etc. 
a..   M.    S.    (preceding   names   of 

British   ships.) 
Hon.    (followed    by    name.) 
HP.    horse-power;    also    I.    HP. 

and  E.  HP. 

HP.-hr.    horsepower-hour, 
d.    p.    high    pressure    (followed 

by  the  word  cylinder.) 
l.  u.   heat  units   (also  B.   T.   U. 

when  so  in  copy,   as   above.) 
[-beam     (use    the    regular    font 

cap   I.      Do    NOT  write    I-bar 

or  eye-beam. 
.   e.    (if   in    copy;    use    Roman 

1.   c.) 

!.  HP.   indicated  HP. 
n.    (ins.)    inch,   inches.* 
fas.    (followed  by  surname.) 


fan.    (followed  by  numerals.) 

alo.    (kilos.)    kilometer. 

eg.  kilogram. 

<VA.    Kilovoltamperes. 

i£W.   kilowatt(s). 

KW.-hr.    kilowatt-hour. 

Lieut,    (followed  by  name.) 

Ib.    (Ibs.) 

1.  p.  low  pressure   (followed  by 

the    word    "cylinder"), 
lin.   lineal    (ft.,    yd.,    etc.) 
M.   Do   NOT  use   for  Mr. 
M.   thousand, 
m.  meter   (or  spell  out  if  so  in 

copy.) 

M.    E.   P.    mean   effective    pres- 
sure. 

mm.  millimeter. 

M.    C.    B.    Master   Car    Builder 
(following  a  name  or  if  so  in 
copy.) 
M.     ft.     B.     M.     thousand     feet 

(Board    Measurement.) 
mi.   mile.     Should  be  used  only 

exceptionally, 
mi.  per  hr.  miles  per  hour.  May 

be  used  exceptionally, 
min.    minutes  of   time    (in   con- 
nection with  the  abbreviation 
"h."    or    "sec."    only    as    in 
"2  min.,   20  sec."     For   min- 
utes of  angles  use  '. 
mos.    months    (if    so    in    copy^ : 
but    never    (mo.")    except    in 
series.) 

MS.    manuscript. 
Nov.    (followed   by    numerals). 
N..    S..     E..    W..    N.E.,     N.W., 

S.E.,    S.W.    (if  so  in  copy.) 
Oct,    (followed   by   numerals.) 
oz.  ounce,   ounces, 
p.    page,    numerals   following, 
pp.  pages. 

%    per    cent,     (except    in    edi- 
torials.) 

Prof,    (followed  by  name.) 
pdr.    (after  numerals,    referring 

to   ordnance.) 
p.   m.   afternoon. 
Pub.    doc.    (in    reviews.) 
qt.    (qts. )    quarts. 
r.       p.      m.,      revolutions      per 

minute. 
R.     R.    Railroad.    Ry.    Railway 

(after    name    of   companies.) 
r.    f.    rapid    firing    (in    lists    of 

ordnance.) 

s.  shilling  (in  compound  ex- 
pressions like  2s.  3d.  only.) 
sec.  (of  time  in  such  com- 
pound expressions  as  "2  min. 
15  sec."  only;  never  use  "15 
sec."  alone.  For  seconds  of 
angular  arc  use  ".) 


*In  such  expressions  as  "14- in.  gun,"  "40-yd.  course,"  etc., 
use  the  hyphen  and  the  singular  form  of  the  abbreviation.  Hyphen 
also  %-in.,  %-yd.  where  there  is  no  whole  number. 


MAKE-UP  OF  PEEIODICALS 


295 


Secy.     Secretary,     in     "Society 
Proceedings"      and      "Coming 
Technical  Meetings." 
sin.   sine 

cos,    cosine  followed  by 

tan,    tangent  angular 

cot,    cotangent        measure  in 
sec,    secant  numerals, 

cosec,  cosecant 

sq.    ft.,    ins.,    yds.,    miles,    m., 
cm.,     mm.,     etc.,     but    never 
"ins.   sq." 
St.    (after  name  of  street  only. 

as   Seventh   St.,   Main   St.) 
Sept.     (followed    by    numerals.) 
Supt.    (if    preceded    by    a    name 
and  followed  by  name  of  com- 
pany  without    "of  the.") 


T-rail.     T-iron.     etc.     (use     the 

regular   font   cap  T.) 
U.    S..     U.    S.     S..     when    used 

as  adjectives  to  govern  other 

capitalized  words, 
viz.:    (if   in  copy.) 
vol.   volume, 
vs.     versus     if     used     in     legal 


Wm.    (followed  by  surname.) 

yd.    (yds.) 

Z-bar    (regular   font   cap   Z.) 

In  addition  to  the  above, 
established  abbreviations  like 
"Ma&s."  and  other  names  of 
states,  £,  $.  etc.,  will  be 
used  according  to  general 
practice. 


The    following    extra    abbreviations    are    regularly    used    in    Con- 
struction News: 


,Arch,   Architect. 

Asst.  Engr.  Assistant  Engineer. 

bbl.,    bbls. 

Bd.  Pub.  Wks.  Board  of  Pub- 
lic Works. 

Boro.    Engr.    Borough   Engineer. 

Bldg.  Building  (following 
name.) 

Chn.    Chairman. 

Ch.    Eugr.    Chief   Engineer. 

Clk.    Co.      Clerk    of    committee. 

City   Audr.   City  Auditor. 

City   Engr.   City   Engineer. 

City   Clk.   City  Clerk. 

City    Recdr.    City    Recorder. 

City   Surv.    City   Surveyor. 

Com.  Committee. 

Comn.  Commission. 

Comr.    Commissioner. 

Comrs.    Commissioners. 

Comr.  Pub.  Wks.  Commissioner 
Public  Works. 

Consult.  Engr.  Consulting  En- 
gineer. 

Constr.  Engr.  Constructing  En- 
gineer. 

Dept.    Department. 

Dept.  Pub.   Impvts.  Department 


of   Public    Improvements. 

Dept.  Pub.  Wks.  Department 
Public  Works. 

Dir.  Pub.  Wks.  Director  Pub^ 
lie  Works. 

Des.  Arch.   Designing  Architect. 

Des.   Engr.   Designing  Engineer. 

Elec.  Engr.  Electrical  Engineer. 

Engr.   Engineer. 

Gen.    Mgr.    General   Manager. 

Gen.  Supt.  General  Superinten- 
dent. 

Mfg.  Manufacturing  (in  names 
of  companies.) 

Pres.   President. 

R.  R.  Railroad;  Ry.  Railway 
(after  name  of  companies.) 

Res.   Engr.   Resident   Engineer. 

Secy.    Secretary. 

St.    Comr.    Street   Commissioner. 

St.  Ry.  Street  Railway  (in 
name  of  companies.) 

Supt.    Superintendent. 

Treas.    Treasurer. 

vice-Pres.    Vice-President. 

W.-W.  (in  connection  with 
names  of  town,  company  or 
official  "Water  Works.") 


XIX 

INDEXING  AND  FILING 

THE  CARD  INDEX 

The  card  index  system  is  now  so  generally 
known,  so  widely  advertised,  and  so  variously 
used  that  little  explanation  of  it  should  be 
necessary.  Record  cards  can  be  used  to  ad- 
vantage for  almost  any  purpose  in  which  there 
is  listing  and  arranging  to  be  done;  the  sys- 
tem is  also  adaptable  to  many  varieties  of  of- 
fice and  field  work  requiring  individual  isola- 
tion of  items.  It  should  be  thoroughly  under- 
stood by  every  student  and  can  easily  be  mas- 
tered by  a  study  of  the  catalogues  of  any  of 
the  many  supply  houses  which  are  now  adver- 
tised in  all  periodicals  and  represented  in  al- 
most every  part  of  the  country.  For  individ- 
ual use  a  card  index  will  save  overtaxing  the 
memory  in  a  hundred  ways;  it  can  be  used  to 
record  facts  pertaining  to  reading,  household 
affairs,  experiences,  anecdotes  and  facts  learned 
in  conversations,  correspondence,  drawings, 
newspaper  clippings,  addresses,  engagements, 
accounts,  business  matters  of  all  kinds,  etc. 

A  "Card  Index  File"  consists  essentially  of 
cards  and  a  case.  There  are  variously  sized  and 
ruled  cards;  'tab  cards'  of  various  designs  for 
296 


THE  CAKD  INDEX  297 

special  purposes,  such  as  sub-indexing  and 
other  interior  classifications;  'guide  cards'  for 
dividing  the  cards  alphabetically,  numerically, 
by  days,  months,  or  otherwise;  and  cards  may 
be  had  in  various  colors.  As  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  explain  or  even  list  in  full  the  uses 
of  the  card  index,  it  is  needless  to  expand  on 
the  subject.  It  is  used  everywhere  and  for 
everything  where  system  and  time  are  of  value, 
and  it  should  be  made  a  subject  for  study  in 
the  college  course  of  every  engineering  stu- 
dent. In  conclusion,  the  advantages  of  the  card 
index  may  be  briefly  stated  as  follows:* 

Accessibility — always  get-at-able — nothing 
is  buried  arid  lost. 

Time-saving — for  the  searchers  after  infor- 
mation. 

Expansibility — only  one  end,  the  begin- 
ning. Can  enlarge  forever  and  still  be 
as  good. 

Order — new  material  inserted  into  the  ex- 
actly proper  place. 

Adaptability — suits  every  frame  of  mind, 
and  every  sort  of  business ;  varied  clas- 
sification. 

System — encourages  system  in  fast  ac- 
cumulating data  and  brings  it  under 
general  heads  of  classification. 

Divisibility — some  cards  can  be  removed 
for  temporary  use  elsewhere,  or  for 
permanent  transfer. 

Labor-saving- — nothing  has  to  be  rewritten, 

*From  an  address  on  "Engineering:  Periodicals  and 
the  Card  Index,"  by  Prof.  H.  Wade  Hibbard,  before  the 
Mechanical  Engineering  Students,  Cornell  University. 


298  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

saves  clerical  labor. 

Simplicity — can  be  operated  by  the  inex- 
perienced. 

Contractibility — no  need  of  retaining  use- 
less, outgrown  matter. 

No  wasting  of  space — it  is  impossible  to 
apportion  blank  spaces  in  books  so 
that  they  will  fill  evenly. 

Always  being  up  to  date. 

Rearrangement  made  easy. 

Substitute  for  memory — Supplementing  it 
and  becoming  independent  of  existing 
hired  memories. 

Classification  within  the  index — by  using 
tab  cards. 

INDEXING  OP  TECHNICAL  INFORMATION 
To  the  modern  professional  man,  the  filing 
and  recording  of  all  obtainable  information 
bearing  on  his  line  of  work  is  a  necessity,  and 
the  vast  volume  of  this  information  renders  it 
also  a  necessity  that  its  filing  and  recording 
be  carried  out  on  a  systematic  basis.  To  a 
careful  and  methodical  accumulation  and  clas- 
sification of  such  information  can  be  ascribed 
in  many  cases  the  very  existence  of  a  business, 
and  its  need  is  as  fully  recognized  by  engineers, 
architects,  manufacturers,  and  professional 
men  generally  as  is  the  need  of  a  thoroughly 
comprehensive  index  as  an  adjunct  of  any  tech- 
nical publication.  Every  technical  man  who 
has  had  occasion  for  frequent  reference  to  the 
literature  of  his  profession  or  specialty,  has 
no  doubt  found  much  fault,,  on  the  one  hand, 


INDEXING  AND  FILING  299 

with  the  unsatisfactory  nature  of  the  indexes 
in  the  majority  of  technical  publications,  and 
on  the  other  hand,  has  been  at  a  loss  as  to  how 
to  properly  classify  and  index  the  technical 
books,  catalogues  and  other  valuable  literary 
material  that  he  may  have  collected. 

The  indexing  of  general  business  informa- 
tion, consisting  usually  of  an  accumulation  of 
books,  pamphlets,  reprints  and  works  of  ref- 
erence, trade  publications,  maps  and  drawings, 
clippings  from  newspapers  and  periodicals, 
notes,  memoranda,  data,  and  correspondence — 
in  fact,  everything  pertaining  to  both  the  com- 
mercial and  professional  ends  of  a  business, 
is  quite  a  different  operation  from  that  of  pre- 
paring an  index  for  a  book,  and,  as  compara- 
tively few  are  called  on  to  undertake  the  lat- 
ter work  and  all  have  use  for  the  former,  some 
space  should  be  devoted  to  a  discussion  of  vari- 
ous systems  of  indexing  and  their  application 
to  the  requirements  of  engineers. 

There  are  many  engineering  firms  that  sub- 
scribe for  a  large  number  of  periodicals  and 
maintain  a  staff  of  readers  for  clipping,  filing 
and  indexing  every  item  bearing  in  any  way 
on  the  nature  of  the  work  of  the  house,  and 
in  some  offices  this  work  is  carried  to  the  ex- 
tent of  compiling  and  editing  the  information 
thus  obtained  into  the  form  of  a  periodic  re- 
view. Other  offices  make  use  of  the  newspaper 
clipping  agencies  or  other  sources  of  supply, 


300  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

but  however  the  material  is  obtained,  the  pos- 
session of  it  and  its  proper  classification  are 
necessities,  and  no  office  can  be  said  to  be  com- 
plete, up-to-date,  and  well  regulated  that  does 
not  take  advantage  of  some  of  the  modern 
methods  so  widely  advertised  to  systematize 
its  work  and  keep  in  touch  with  the  march 
of  industrial  progress,  with  business  prospects, 
and  with  the  work  of  competitors. 

Assuming,  then,  the  recognition  of  the  value 
of  an  office  index,  let  us  consider  the  index 
itself.  What  constitutes  a  good  index?  The 
word  "Index"  in  the  original  Latin  meant  a 
discoverer,  informer,  indicator,  or  that  which 
points  out,  for  instance,  the  index  finger.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Century  Dictionary,  an  "In- 
dex" is 

"A  detailed  alphabetical  list  or  table  of  fig- 
ures, names  of  persons,  places,  etc.,  treated  or 
mentioned  in  a  book  or  series  of  books,  point- 
ing out  their  exact  positions  in  the  volume. ' ' 

This  definition  is  limited  in  meaning  and  is 
in  many  ways  faulty.  It  might  be  generalized 
somewhat  by  writing  it  as  "An  alphabetical 
list  of  key-words  of  topics,  persons,  places,  and 
data  mentioned  in  a  book,  or  otherwise  filed, 
with  numerical  or  other  references  to  indicate 
the  exact  location  of  such  topics,  etc.,  in  the 
pages  of  the  book  or  in  files."  Neither  of  these 
definitions,  however,  expresses  exactly  the  na- 
ture of  a  good  index,  as  nearly  all  topics  are 
subdivided  and  the  subdivisions 'are  asrain  sub- 


INDEXING  AND  FILING  301 

divided.  There  is  no  "standard"  system  of 
indexing — the  requirements  of  each  particular 
office  constitute  a  problem  calling  for  individ- 
ual solution;  but  while  no  broad  rules  can  be 
laid  down  which  will  cover  all  possible  condi- 
tions, some  general  principles  can  be  formu- 
lated that  will  serve  as  a  guide.  A  good  gen- 
eral system  is  that  in  use  in  an  office  where  in- 
formation of  all  kinds  is  filed,  where  the  char- 
acter of  the  service  to  be  rendered  requires 
consolidation,  and  the  same  reference  library 
is  to  be  used  by  several  companies. 

The  Industrial  Library  Index.  Such  a 
library  is  provided  by  the  firm  of  Stone  & 
Webster,  of  Boston.  This  firm  handles  the 
executive  affairs  of  a  large  number  of  com- 
panies, including  electric  railway  and  lighting 
corporations,  gas  lighting  companies,  chemical 
and  electro-chemical  companies,  etc.,  with  in- 
terests scattered  over  an  area  extending  from 
Puget  Sound  to  Porto  Rico,  and  from  Texas 
to  Cape  Breton. 

In  the  bookcases,  and  in  substantially  the 
following  order,  are  shelved  dictionaries,  en- 
cyclopedias, books  on  rhetoric,  on  insurance, 
on  finance,  periodical  indexes,  publishers'  lists, 
legal,  engineering,  and  statistical  books  (the 
last  a  large  class,  including  municipal,  state, 
and  government  reports — mostly  domestic,  a 
few  foreign)  ;  also  the  bound  numbers  of  some 
twenty-five  engineering  and  political  journals, 


302  ENGINEEKING  LITERATURE 

the  larger  part  dating  from  1900.  Other  peri- 
odicals that  come,  but  are  not  bound,  would 
bring  the  number  to  about  fifty  weeklies  and 
monthlies  regularly  received.  Topographic 
and  other  maps,  atlases,  and  photographs, 
make  up  the  rest  of  the  "book  file,"  which  to- 
tals between  2,000  and  3,000  items. 

The  "document  file,"  with  its  15,000  or  more 
private  documents,  including  propositions  (for 
example,  railway,  lighting,  and  other  business 
schemes),  statistical  and  financial  data,  legal 
matters,  agreements,  illustrations,  and  engi- 
neering and  miscellaneous  papers,  is,  of  course, 
the  more  vital  part  of  the  library,  and  repre- 
sents much  accumulated  data  and  experience. 

For  the  majority  of  questions,  as  in  all  li- 
braries, an  "up-the-sleeve"  knowledge,  a  fa- 
miliarity wTith  the  titles  and  file  numbers,  with 
the  locations  of  the  various  books  on  the 
shelves,  and  with  their  general  scope  and  con- 
tents, is  of  manifest  importance.  To  know  that 
the  population  of  most  cities  is  given  in  the 
almanacs;  to  know  that  the  value  of  the  ex- 
ports of  Galveston  is  given  in  the  Statistical 
Abstract  of  the  United  States;  that  a  discus- 
sion of  "shall  and  will"  is  in  the  rhetorics; 
that  an  epitome  of  the  industrial  aspects  of 
Salt  Lake  City  is  to  be  found  in  the  encyclo- 
pedias; and  to  know  in  a  general  way  what 
special  books  on  gas  engines,  or  steam  turbines, 
or  reinforced  concrete,  and  so  on,  are  on  file; 


INDEXING  AND  FILING  303 

and  to  be  able  to  get  these  books  with  one's 
eyes  shut,  as  it  were— such  faculties  may  legiti- 
mately be  expected  of  those  who  have  had 
much  to  do  with  the  books  of  the  library. 

Frequently,  however,  a  list  of  substantial  ref- 
erences is  wanted  on  a  given  subject,  as,  for 
instance,  "Motor  cars  on  steam  railroads," 
which  might  be  found  listed  in  the  indexes  in 
the  volumes  of  a  railway  journal.  But  this 
might  mean  looking  through  the  indexes  of 
several  volumes  with  very  likely  the  inconven- 
ience of  having  to  take  the  volumes  from  a 
rather  inaccessible  shelf. 

A  simple  way  to  escape  much  of  this  work 
is  to  have  a  separate  set  of  indexes.  Such  a 
set  of  duplicates  maintained  in  this  library  has 
proved  a  great  convenience.  The  collection 
dates  mostly  from  1900  and  includes  the  in- 
dexes to  sixteen  different  technical  journals. 
And  yet,  convenient  as  these  indexes  are,  they 
do  not  indicate  the  length  of  the  articles,  while 
the  titles  are  so  brief  that  one  often  has  but 
little  clue  as  to  the  scope  until  he  sees  the 
articles  themselves. 

Many  librarians  and  engineers  make  use  of 
items  describing  the  various  important  articles, 
clipped  from  published  indexes  such  as  the 
"Technical  Press  Index,"  which  are  pasted 
on  index  cards,  thus  making  available  for  ready 


304  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

reference  an  index  always  up-to-date.  At  the 
library  of  Stone  &  Webster,  the  slips  are  pasted 
on  sheets,  SxlO1/^  inches,  each  in  its  own  class, 
so  that  in  looking  for  "Motor  Cars,"  the  de- 
sired references  are  to  be  found  on  certain  of 
the  sheets  whose  general  heading  shows  that 
they  have  to  do  with  railway  affairs.  This 
classification  in  sheets  has  the  disadvantage  of 
less  detail  in  classification  than  is  possible  with 
separate  cards,  but  it  is  claimed  that  this  is  in 
a  measure  compensated  for  by  greater  facility 
of  reference,  as  it  is  far  quicker  work  to  glance 
over  a  sheet  containing  twenty  or  more  items 
than  to  examine  the  same  number  of  index 
cards. 

The  next  step  following  the  system  of  com- 
piling and  sorting  the  material  is  the  method 
of  classification,  and  for  this  a  numerical 
grouping  of  the  subjects,  with  a  decimal  nota- 
tion indicating  the  subdivisions,  is  the  best. 
The  nearest  approach  to  a  "standard"  and  the 
most  generally  used  system  of  this  kind  is  the 
Dewey  Decimal  System  for  libraries. 

One  of  the  prime  requisites  of  a  good  index 
is  the  method  of  keeping  it  up  to  date;  unless 
it  is  methodically  handled  in  this  regard  many 
items  are  liable  to  be  neglected.  Everything 
should  be  disposed  of  at  once — publications  of 
all  kinds  should  be  indexed  as  they  are  re- 
ceived, and  a  strict  adherence  to  this  principle 


INDEXING  AND  FILING  305 

will  make  the  index  one  of  the  most  valuable 
working  tools  an  engineer  or  an  engineering 
firm  can  be  possessed  of. 

The  following  method  of  indexing  and  filing 
technical  information  contained  in  periodicals, 
is  given  in  a  letter  in  ''Engineering  News":* 

Upon  the  arrival  of  each  journal  it  is  scanned 
and  all  material  worth  keeping  is  marked.  The 
journal  is  then  cut  down  to  minimum  size  by 
removing  all  unmarked  sheets  and  the  remain- 
der bound  into  a  unit  with  paper  fasteners. 

These  units  are  each  given  a  number  and  are 
filed  in  boxes  in  numerical  order,  which  like- 
wise correspond  to  the  order  of  their  date. 
Before  being  put  away,  however,  they  are  in- 
dexed in  a  card  indexing  system  as  described 
below. 

A  topical  index  of  engineering  subjects  based 
upon  the  decimal  system  is  used.  This  index 
is  made  to  follow  as  rational  a  plan  as  possible 
and  after  a  few  weeks  of  use  becomes  suffi- 
ciently memorized  to  enable  one  to  locate  cards 
without  reference  to  the  topical  index. 

Each  topic  has  a  card  made  out  according  to 
the  plan  shown  below  and  each  article  or  other 
reference  is  entered  on  a  separate  line  of  the 
card  with  its  serial  number,  date  and  source 
opposite  to  it.  Instead  of  cards,  sheets  in  a 
loose  leaf  note  book  may  be  used : 
E  — 630  Electric  Locomotives. 

1041 New  York  Central E.  W.  1-5-08 

1096 B.   &  O E.  E.  J.  2-6-08 

1143 N.  Y.,  N.  H.  &  H E.  N.  4-21-08 

1220 Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit G.  E.  E.    6-18-08 

(The  letters  in  the  last  column  are  abbreviations  of 
technical  journal  titles.) 

*Eng.  News,  Jany.  16,  1911.  Correspondence  by  Wm. 
A.  Del  Mar  and  O.  G.  Pratt,  335  Madison  Ave.,  New 
York. 


306  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

Size  of  card  is  4x6  inches. 
The  advantages  of  this  system  are  as  follows : 
Compared  with  Simple  Indexing: 

(1)  Articles  are  available  in  the  office  at 
short  notice. 

(2)  Bulk  of  data  filed  is  reduced  to  mini- 
mum. 

(3)  The  trouble  and  expense  of  book-bind- 
ing is   avoided;   and   the   data   are   not  tem- 
porarily lost  to  the  office  during  book-binding. 

(4)  The  filing  of  articles  from  miscellane- 
ous journals,  which  are  not  subscribed  for,  is 
still  possible. 

(5)  When  all  the  available  data  on  a  given 
subject  is  required,  one's  desk  is  not  loaded 
with  dozens  of  ponderous  volumes. 
Compared  with  Simple  Clipping: 

(1)  Articles  on  the  same  sheet  may  be  filed 
without  having  duplicate  copies. 

(2)  Detail  topics  in  a  general  article  are 
easily  cross-indexed. 

(3)  It  is  much  easier  to  determine  whether 
any  particular  article  has  been  filed  than  it  is 
with  the  clipping  system,  especially  when  the 
file  becomes  voluminous. 

(4)  If  an  article  cannot  be  found  by  topic, 
it  can  be  found  by  date,  as  the  data  sheets  are 
filed  in  order  of  date. 

(5)  When  thinning-out  becomes  essential,  it 
is  not  necessary  to  go  through  the  whole  file, 
but  only  through  the  oldest  portion  and  the  ob- 
solete matter  eliminated. 

(6)  A  convenient  method  is  provided  for 


INDEXING  AND  FILING  307 

indexing  articles  in  books  and  periodicals 
which  are  not  owned  or  subscribed  for. 

(7)  And  last,  but  not  least,  the  time  which 
would  be  spent  in  cutting,  assorting  and  past- 
ing clippings  is  more  pleasantly  and  profitably 
utilized  in  carefully  scrutinizing  the  articles 
so  that  all  topics  of  interest  may  be  properly 
indexed,  and  as  there  is  no  temptation  to  defer 
this  sort  of  filing  until  sufficient  papers  have 
accumulated  for  one  or  two  days'  work  (as  is 
the  case  with  the  "paste  pot  and  shears"  sys- 
tem), it  is  much  more  thoroughly  done,  and  in 
consequence  much  valuable  information  is  ac- 
quired which  would  otherwise  be  entirely  over- 
looked. 

An  Indexing  System  for  Both  Field  and  Of- 
fice Use.*  The  following  system  of  indexing 
engineering  data  for  both  field  and  office  use 
has  been  found  very  convenient  in  consulting 
engineering  practice.  The  engineering  subjects 
are  numbered  from  one  upward.  Loose  covers 
are  prepared  and  each  cover  is  given  a  num- 
ber corresponding  to  the  number  of  one  of  the 
subjects.  The  covers  are  made  of  stiff,  brown 
paper,  folded  to  about  8x11  inches,  and  pro- 
vided with  a  flap. 

Any  engineering  paper  or  articles  in  any 
periodical,  or  any  data  whatsoever,  that  is 
worth  preserving,  is  cut  out  and  filed  in  the 
loose  cover.  The  number  of  the  paper  filed 
will  be  a  fraction,  the  numerator  showing  the 
number  of  the  subject,  and  the  denominator 

*System  used  by  Albert  I.  Frye,  Consulting  Engi- 
neer, 90  West  St.,  New  York  City. 


308  ENGINEEEING  LITERATURE 

showing  the  number  of  the  paper  or  article 
filed  under  that  subject.  It  is  convenient  to 
limit  the  number  of  papers  filed  in  each  cover 
to  about  fifty. 

Now  index  these  papers  in  duplicate,  on 
typewritten  sheets,  pasting  one  copy  of  the 
index  sheet  on  outside  of  cover,  the  other  copy 
to  be  filed  in  a  loose-leaf  index.  Certain  ab- 
breviations can  be  used  in  the  indexing,  so 
that  a  vast  amount  of  data  can  appear  on  a 
single  line  in  condensed  form,  thus  giving  a 
fairly  full  description  of  the  article.  In  case 
a  paper  filed  under  one  subject  contains  an- 
other article  on  another  subject  (on  the  re- 
verse side),  a  cross-reference  is  made. 

Papers  filed  in  this  manner  are  very  handy 
for  the  consulting  engineer,  as  all  references 
on  any  one  subject  are  brought  together  in 
such  condensed  form  that  they  can  readily  be 
tucked  into  a  small  grip  when  wanted  in  trav- 
eling. 

Classification  System  for  Library.  In  1895, 
Prof.  F.  R.  Hutton,  then  Secretary  of  the  Amer- 
ican Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers,  was 
called  on  to  decide  on  a  system  to  be  used  in 
classifying  and  cataloguing  the  society's  li- 
brary. Prof.  Hutton  wrote  a  paper  on  his 
work  for  the  society  from  which  the  following 
classification  of  subjects  has  been  abstracted. 
In  this  paper  he  states  thai;  without  preposses- 
sion of  any  particular  system,  he  asked  him- 


INDEXING  AND  FILING  309 

self:  "What  is  the  catalogue  of  a  library  of 
engineering  for?"  The  immediate  reply  would 
seem  to  be :  "To  enable  a  visitor  to  the  library 
in  search  of  its  sources  of  information  on  a 
certain  subject,  to  find  what  the  library  con- 
tained for  his  purposes  and  where  it  might  be 
found." 

If  this  conception  of  the  function  of  a  library 
card  catalogue  is  sound  the  catalogue  ceases 
to  be  an  alphabetical  list  of  mere  book  titles 
and  becomes  a  list  of  subjects,  or  an  "Index 
Rerum,"  and  under  each  subject  should  be 
found  the  books  in  the  library,  each  upon  its 
own  card,  which  treat  of  that  particular  sub- 
ject— either  by  title  or  author  when  the  book 
is  upon  that  subject  entirely,  or  by  reference 
to  another  subject  in  the  catalogue.  On  other 
cards  behind  these  should  be  found  also,  those 
book  titles  in  which  besides  their  major  sub* 
jects,  the  topic  in  question  is  treated  in  a 
subordinate  manner.  The  single  cards  under 
each  subject,  besides  title  and  author,  would 
have  such  numbers  as  would  indicate  the  loca- 
tion of  the  book  in  alcove  or  section  and  their 
location  upon  the  shelf  and  in  succession  so 
that  it  can  be  readily  found  and  returned. 

The  classes  adopted  for  the  library  were  the 
following : 

1.  Dictionaries,     Encyclopedias,     Engineers' 

Pocket-books,  Logarithmic  Tables,  etc. 

2.  Periodicals  and  Magazines 

3.  Transactions  of  Societies 


310  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

4.  Trade  Catalogues 

5.  Pure  or  Natural  Sciences 

6.  Industrial   Arts    (not   engineering,   metals 

and  metallurgy,  nor  wood-working) 

7.  Mining  and  Metallurgy 

8.  Strength    of   Materials    and    Testing   Ma- 

chines 

9.  Drawing  and  Machine  Design. 

10.  Timber,    Carpentry,    Joinery    and    Wood- 

working 

11.  Metals  and  Metal  Working 

12.  Mills,  Manufactories,  and  Shops 

13.  Heat,  Fuel,  and  Heat  Engines  (not  steam) 

14.  Steam  Engineering    (stationary)   and  Mo- 
tors for  Mills,  Shops,  and  Power  Plants 

15.  Power  Transmission 

16.  Electrical  Engineering 

17.  Railway  Machinery  and  Equipment 

18.  Marine  and  Naval  Engineering 

19.  Aerial  Transportation 

20.  Military  Engineering,  Ordnance,  and  Sea 

Coast 

21.  Hydraulic  Engineering  (not  motors) 

22.  Sanitary  and  Municipal  Engineering 

23.  Structural  (also  called  Civil  Engineering) 

24.  Fine  Arts,  Architecture 

25.  Technical  Miscellany 

26.  Law,  Patents,  Inventions 

27.  Medicine  and  Surgery 

28.  Philosophy,  Mental  Science,  and  Religion 

29.  Social  Science,   Economics,   Philanthropy, 

Ethnology,  Anthropology 

30.  Philology,  Literature,  Language 

31.  History 

32.  Fiction,  Essays,  Poetry,  Humor 

33.  Library  Methods  and  Literature;  Rarities 

Each  of  these   classes  is   divided  into   sub- 


INDEXING  AND  FILING  311 

classes,  as  occasion  requires.  The  list  of  sub- 
classes is  given  at  length  in  the  original  paper 
from  which  the  above  is  abstracted,  and  which 
was  presented  before  the  society. 

Library  of  Congress  Index  Cards.  When  the 
Library  of  Congress,  at  "Washington,  moved 
from  its  old  quarters  in  the  Capitol  to  its  new 
building  in  1897,  work  was  started  on  the  re- 
cataloguing,  according  to  modern  ideas,  of  the 
enormous  number  of  books  and  pamphlets 
which  up  to  then  had  been  classed  and  listed 
on  a  most  primitive  and  complicated  system. 
As  a  part  of  this  work,  which  was  expected 
to  take  about  twenty  years  to  complete,  cards 
bearing  the  cataloguing  title  of  the  books  were 
printed  and  a  division  of  the  library  established 
to  take  charge  of  the  distribution  of  the  cards 
to  any  person  or  institution  willing  to  pay  a 
nominal  sum  for  them.  The  recataloguing  is 
now  approaching  completion,  and  there  are 
available  for  distribution,  index  cards  of  all 
books  in  the  library  except  those  under  a  very 
few  classes. 

This  is  a  source  of  bibliographical  information 
unknown  to  many  people.  Is  is  especially  of 
value  to  engineers,  because  all  the  various 
fields  of  technology  have  now  been  covered. 
In  addition  to  being  the  legal  depository  of 
all  books  copyrighted  in  the  United  States. 
which  means  that  all  modern  American  books 
must  be  included  upon  the  shelves,  the  Library 
of  Congress  has  a  generous  purchase  fund, 


312  ENGINEEEING  LITEEATUEE 

which  is  devoted  to  foreign  and  ancient  books. 
An  engineer  wishing  a  list  of  books  on  his 
specialty  or  on  technology  at  large  could  do 
no  better  than  to  procure  it  from  this  source. 
The  cards  are  in  the  regular  3x5-inch  size. 
Each  book  or  set  of  books  is  listed  on  a  separate 
card  giving  title,  author,  publisher,  date  of 
publication,  size,  brief  summary  of  contents  and 
finally,  a  list  of  headings  under  which  the  sub- 
ject headings  may  be  made.  The  price  per 
card  ranges  from  one  to  three  cents,  according 
to  the  manner  of  ordering.  Full  information 
is  given  in  a  handbook  issued  by  the  Library 
of  Congress,  entitled  "L.  C.  Printed  Cards; 
How  to  Order  and  Use  Them." 

INDEXING  AND  FILING  OF  TRADE 
PUBLICATIONS. 

Classification.  What  has  been  said  relates 
especially  to  the  indexing  and  filing  of  general 
engineering  information,  but  nowadays  every 
manufacturing  concern,  every  engineering  and 
construction  company,  many  libraries  and  in- 
dividuals preserve  the  various  trade  publica- 
tions that  come  to  them,  relating  to  machinery, 
supplies,  etc.,  in  which  they  may  be  interested. 
This  class  of  semi-technical  literature  is  daily 
increasing  in  volume,  and  while  much  of  it 
is  only  of  passing  interest,  there  is  also  much 
that  contains  information  of  permanent  value 
which  is  well  worthy  of  preservation,  and  no 


TRADE  PUBLICATIONS  313 

engineering  firm  may  be  said  to  be  up  to  date 
and  thoroughly  alive  to  its  own  interests  which 
ignores  it. 

Aside  from  the  main  object  of  trade  cata- 
logues, which  is  presumably  to  sell  the  goods 
described  therein,  there  is  an  importance  to 
be  attached  to  some  of  them  as  industrial  liter- 
ature that  is  worth  recognizing.  General  treat- 
izes  exhibiting  the  principles  and  practice  of 
any  branch  of  engineering  naturally  hesitate 
to  describe  in  too  great  detail  the  product  of 
any  single  firm,  but  the  men  working  daily  with 
tools  and  engines  of  special  type  find  what 
they  want  to  know  in  the  elaborate  descriptive 
catalogues  of  the  makers.  Then  engineering 
books  are  depending  more  and  more  upon  trade 
literature  for  illustrative  material,  not  to  men- 
tion occasional  appropriations  of  text,  because 
of  the  superior  quality  of  the  design  and  exe- 
cution of  the  drawings  so  published,  and  the 
precise  character  of  the  information.  Again, 
many  of  these  catalogues  are  worth  preserva- 
tion as  remarkable  products  of  the  printers' 
art.  But  aside  from  these  various  outside  con- 
siderations, they  contain  that  intimate  infor- 
mation which  the  buyer  and  user  of  present- 
day  devices  most  needs;  the  buyer  therefore 
wants  to  keep  them  and  on  account  of  their 
quantity,  he  needs  some  system  for  their  preser- 
vation and  easy  reference. 

The  system  of  indexing  which  is  here  briefly 


314  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

described  has  proved  satisfactory  in  an 
office  where  many  trade  publications  are  re- 
ceived daily.  The  first  work  is  that  of  elimina- 
tion. Purely  advertising  matter,  or  so-called 
"Reminders,"  are  thrown  out;  and  mere  price- 
lists  are  also  generally  rejected,  especially 
where  they  are  not  specific  enough  to  give  use- 
ful record  information.  But  catalogues,  priced 
or  unpriced,  and  all  pamphlets  and  circulars, 
descriptive  of  engineering  appliances,  methods, 
work  accomplished,  etc.,  are  preserved.  The 
file  here  referred  to  is  designed  to  cover  engi- 
neering work  in  general,  with  sub-divisions 
separately  covering  the  different  branches  of 
engineering  work.  The  points  considered  in 
the  classification  are  ease  and  rapidity  of  refer- 
ence ;  and  to  this  end  each  publication  is  placed 
under  that  heading  which  represents  its  near- 
est and  most  important  relation  to  engineering 
work  as  a  whole.  Some  exceptions  must  be 
made,  however,  as  when  the  manufacture  of  the 
article  governs  the  classification.  For  instance, 
a  circular  relating  to  Locomotives  is  classed 
under  Railway  Engineering  (Rolling  Stock), 
and  not  under  any  class  of  the  division  of  Me- 
chanical Engineering.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
catalogue  of  a  bridge  company  is  put  under 
Civil  Engineering  (Bridges  and  Buildings). 

As  the  titles  of  many  trade  publications  do 
not  clearly  indicate  the  matter  of  which  a  rec- 
ord is  desired,  it  will  save  much  time  in  filing, 


TRADE  PUBLICATIONS  315 

and  serve  as  a  useful  guide  in  a  search,  to  ar- 
range a  paster-blank,  to  be  attached  to  the 
outside  cover.  This  may  be  arranged  and  filled 
out  as  follows: 

TRADE  CATALOGUE  FILE 

General     Subject — Railway     Engineering 

Class — Rolling  Stock 

Sub-Class — Locomotives 

Name   of  Company — Baldwin  Locomotive 

Works,  Philadelphia 

The  names  of  the  main  heads  and  classes  on 
these  pasters  must  conform  exactly  with  those 
adopted  for  the  file.  But  the  sub-class  or 
article  name  should  briefly  and  clearly  state 
the  article,  or  the  most  important  of  the  arti- 
cles, dealt  with  in  the  catalogue  indexed.  The 
sub-classes  in  the  file  here  referred  to,  in  many 
cases  cover  a  wide  range  of  articles;  as  Boiler 
Auxiliaries:  Stokers;  Feed  Water  Heaters, 
etc.;  Boiler  Fittings  and  Tools.  But  a  cata- 
logue of  Feed  Water  Heaters  should  be  marked 
under  the  sub-class  on  the  paster — Feed  Water 
Heaters.  In  other  words,  the  paster  should 
show  at  a  glance  what  the  catalogue  deals  with. 
After  having  been  properly  marked  in  this 
manner,  each  catalogue  is  filed  in  the  proper 
compartment  of  the  catalogue  file.  The  classi- 
fication adopted  for  this  file  is  as  follows : 

CIVIL  ENGINEERING 

Instruments — Surveyors,  Draftsmen. 
Material — Steel,  Brick,  Cement,  Asphalt. 


316  ENGINEERING  LITEEATUEE 

Earth  and  Rock  Work — Contractors'  Ma- 
chinery and  Supplies,  Traction  En- 
gines, Dredges,  Steam  Shovels,  Pile 
Drivers. 

Rockwork — Drills,  Channelers,  Tools,  Ex- 
plosives. 

Road  Construction — Road-making  Machin- 
ery. 

Concrete — Mixing  Machinery,  Concrete- 
steel  Systems. 

Hoisting  and  Conveying — Cranes,  Blocks, 
Trolleys,  Telphers,  Hoists,  Derricks, 
Cableways,  Belt  and  Chain  Conveyors, 
Coal-handling  Machinery. 

Bridges  and  Buildings — Complete  Struc- 
tures, Bridges,  Tanks,  Towers,  Fire- 
proofing  in  Buildings,  Special  Con- 
structions, Fittings,  Supplies. 

RAILWAY  ENGINEERING 

Line  Construction — Trackwork,  Tools,  Sig- 
nals, Gates. 

Rolling  Stock — Locomotives,  Cars,  Car  and 
Engine  Fittings,  Specialties. 

Electric  Railways — Cars,  Fittings,  Line- 
work. 

Special — Industrial  Railways,  Automobiles. 

MUNICIPAL  ENGINEERING 

Material   and   Supplies — Pipe,   Valves, 

Cocks,  etc. 

Meters — Gas  Meters,  Water  Meters. 
Wells — Well-drilling  Machinery. 
Fire  Protection — Fire  Engines   (only),  all 

Apparatus     (except     Engines),     Fire 

Alarms. 


TRADE  PUBLICATIONS  317 

Care  of  Streets — Cleaning  and  Sprinkling 
Apparatus. 

Disposal  and  Sanitation — Disposal  Systems 
and  Apparatus,  Disinfecting  Appa- 
ratus. 

ELECTRICAL  ENGINEERING 

General — Serial  or  General  Catalogues  of 
Companies. 

Machines — Generators,  Motors,  Transform- 
ers, Converters. 

Instruments  -  -  Instruments,  Controllers, 
Batteries. 

Wiring  and  Linework — Wiring,  Insulators, 
Supplies. 

Special — Lamps,  Fans,  Heaters,  Telegraph, 
Telephone. 

MECHANICAL  ENGINEERING. 

Material — Iron  and  Steel  Stock,  Tubing, 
Screws,  Chains,  etc. 

Fuels — Fuels,  Gas  Machines,  Acetylene  Ap- 
paratus. 

Boilers — Boilers,  Furnaces,  Stacks. 

Boiler  Auxiliaries  —  Stokers,  Feed-water 
Heaters,  etc. ;  Fittings,  Tools. 

Steam  Engines — Reciprocating,  Turbine. 

Engine  Auxiliaries — F  i  1 1  i  n  g  s,  Packing, 
Valves,  etc. 

Gas  Engines — Gas  and  Oil  Engines,  Fit- 
tings. 

Gages  and  Meters — 

Hand  Tools— Machinists '  Hand  Tools. 

Pneumatic  Tools — 

Shop  Transmission — Belts,  Shafting,  etc. 

Foundry  and  Forge — Apparatus  and  Sup- 
plies. 


318  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

Air  Compressors — 

Air  Blast— Blast  Draft,  Ventilation,  Dry 
Kilns. 

Pumps — Reciprocating  Pumps. 

Pumps  and  Rams — Centrifugal  Pumps,  Hy- 
draulic Rams,  Air-lifts,  Pump  Gover- 
nors, etc. 

Water  Wheels — Turbines,  Impulse  Wheels, 
Fittings. 

Machine  Tools — Lathes,  Planers,  Drills, 
Millers,  etc. ;  Hammers,  Presses,  etc. ; 
Sheet  and  Wire  Working. 

Special  Machines — Grinding,  Wood-work- 
ing, etc. ;  also  Abrasives. 

MINING  AND  METALLURGY 

Mining  and  Metallurgy — (Except  the  fol- 
lowing division). 

Milling,  Crushing  and  Pulverizing  Ma- 
chinery— 

PAINTS,  OILS,  ETC. 
Paints,  Lubricators,  Preservatives — 

MISCELLANEOUS 
Fence  arid  Railing — 

This  index  was  devised  to  fit  a  number  of 
limiting  conditions  of  the  establishment  in 
which  it  is  used,  and  should  not  be  taken  to 
represent  an  ideal  classification.  The  general 
plan  followed  in  the  arrangement  is,  however, 
quite  clearly  apparent,  and  may  be  used  with 
any  degree  of  modification  or  elaboration. 

Filing.     The  actual  filing  of  trade  publica- 


TEADE  PUBLICATIONS  319 

tions  presents  greater  difficulties  than  the  sys- 
tem of  classification.  The  latter  may  be  made 
to  suit  any  given  conditions,  but  catalogues  are 
of  such  a  variety  of  sizes  and  shapes  as  to  al- 
most defy  system.  Some  time  ago  "American 
Industries ' '  published  an  article  on  ' '  Standard- 
ization of  Trade  Catalogues"  showing  some  of 
the  advantages,  from  the  printer's  point  of 
view,  of  standard  sizes  in  trade  catalogues. 

Two  of  the  sizes  suggested  are  standard  and 
economical.  The  smaller  size,  3%  x  6,  is  not  a 
standard  size,  but  is  often  used  on  account  of 
the  fact  that  it  is  easily  mailed  and  can  be  en- 
closed in  an  ordinary  business  envelope,  which 
will  not  conveniently  take  a  SV^-inch  width. 
The  dimensions  and  shapes  of  the  various  sizes 
advocated  are  as  follows : 

Dimension  of  Binding  Dimension  of  Top  and 

Edge  in  inches.  Bottom  Edges  in  inches. 

3%  6 

6  314 

6  9 

9  6 

9  12 

12  9 

The  advantage  of  having  all  the  catalogues 
needed  for  reference  filed  upright  in  compart- 
ments of  these  four  sizes  only  is  self-evident. 
Two  effective  plans  for  filing  are  as  follows : 
File   all   booklets,   catalogues   and   circulars 
alphabetically  under  the  class  of  goods  adver- 
tised.   Then  have  a  card  index  referring  to  the 
compartment  containing  the  catalogue,  and  file 


320  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

the  card  alphabetically  under  the  name  of  the 
manufacturer.  This  plan  is  ideal,  but  is  not 
possible  at  the  present  time.  Manufacturers 
insist  on  getting  out  their  literature  in  "any 
old  size"  that  strikes  their  fancy,  and  also 
will  put  into  a  catalogue  the  description  and 
size  of  every  class  of  goods  they  manufacture 
or  carry  for  sale,  entirely  ignoring  the  fact 
that  the  buyer,  when  interested,  wants  to  see 
for  comparison  what  each  manufacturer  has 
to  offer  in  that  particular  line,  and  may  not  at 
all  be  interested  in  the  entire  product  of  any 
one  plant.  Some  few  manufacturers  have 
learned  this  and  are  now  carefully  eliminating 
from  each  piece  of  advertising  matter  any  ref- 
erence to  products  other  than  the  one  definitely 
and  specifically  mentioned  in  that  particular 
piece  of  advertising  matter.  Then  again,  these 
manufacturers  are  having  all  their  literature  in 
one  uniform  size,  and  frequently  it  is  so  pro- 
duced that  it  can  be  put  together  by  the  cus- 
tomer in  a  loose-leaf  binder  if  he  desires  to 
have  all  the  matter  from  one  house  in  one 
book.  This  method  of  issuing  advertising  lit- 
erature enables  the  prospective  customer  to  file 
the  catalogues,  booklets,  and  even  circulars,  in 
any  way  he  deems  wise,  conforming  to  the 
above  method. 

Another  method  is  to  file  the  catalogues, 
booklets,  etc.,  alphabetically  under  the  name 
of  the  manufacturer,  and  have  the  card  index 


TEADE  PUBLICATIONS  321 

refer  to  the  name  of  the  manufacturer,  but 
filed  alphabetically  under  the  class  of  goods 
advertised.  This  plan  can  be  put  into  effect 
with  any  modern  catalogue,  it  being  only  nec- 
essary to  have  standard  sizes. 

Variations  in  Sizes  of  Catalogues.  Probably 
some  of  the  blame  for  variation  in  size  should 
be  placed  on  the  printer,  who  is  often  required 
to  get  up  something  new  in  style,  and  a  "little 
out  of  the  ordinary,"  something  that  will  at- 
tract attention,  the  object  of  the  manufacturer 
being  to  catch  the  eye  of  the  prospective  pur- 
chaser by  the  novel  shape  of  the  booklet  and 
the  attractive  color  scheme  of  the  cover. 

Another  cause  for  the  variation  in  size  is  the 
cost  of  mailing.  A  catalogue  is  planned  for  a 
certain  number  of  pages,  the  paper  is  selected 
with  the  idea  of  mailing  for  a  certain  amount ; 
paper  usually  has  to  be  made  specially  for  a 
large  catalogue,  and  is  consequently  ordered 
while  the  work  is  in  process.  It  is  then  found 
necessary  to  increase  the  number  of  pages, 
which  would  naturally  increase  the  mailing 
cost.  Sometimes  the  paper  can  be  returned 
and  a  lighter  weight  obtained  in  its  place,  but 
usually  it  cannot  without  sacrificing  a  consid- 
erable portion  of  the  cost.  There  is  but  one 
other  way  out,  and  that  is  to  decrease  the  mar- 
gins and  make  the  books  smaller  by  trimming, 
to  save  the  extra  postage,  and  consequently 


322  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

another  mongrel-sized  catalogue  that  will  not 
fit  any  file. 

Most  advertising  literature  is  delayed  in  its 
preparation  in  order  to  get  the  latest  possible 
information,  and  then  it  is  desired  to  get 
it  out  before  the  buying  public  at  the  earliest 
possible  moment;  consequently  there  will  often 
be  annoying  delays  because  the  printers  cannot 
get  the  paper  and  "rush  the  job."  A  scheme 
of  standardization  would  to  some  extent  at 
least,  solve  this  problem.  As  soon  as  it  be- 
came generally  recognized  that  certain  sizes  of 
catalogues  would  be  used  to  the  exclusion  of 
all  other  sizes,  the  dealer  in  paper  would  begin 
to  carry  in  stock  all  of  the  sizes  that  are  neces- 
sary to  produce  these  dimensions,  in  the  stand- 
ard weights  and  qualities.  At  the  present  time 
it  is  impossible  to  do  this,  as  the  investment 
necessary  would  tend  to  make  the  paper  busi- 
ness very  unprofitable.  This  would  also  give  the 
manufacturer  who  had  to  increase  the  number 
of  pages  in  his  catalogue,  a  chance,  as  he  could 
readily  dispose  of  his  heavy  paper  and  get  a 
lighter  weight  instead,  and  that  probably  in 
stock,  and  thus  avoid  the  delay  of  having  it 
made  at  the  mill. 

The  attractiveness  of  the  proposed  catalogue 
can  be  attained  as  effectively  by  the  design  of 
the  cover  as  by  using  an  unusual  size.  There 
is  certainly  enough  latitude  in  color  schemes, 
with  or  without  bronzing  and  embossing,  color 


TEADE  PUBLICATIONS  323 

lithography,  steel-plate  work,  and  the  thousand 
and  one  other  ways  in  which  novel  and  har- 
monious results  can  be  obtained  that  are  appro- 
priate to  the  goods  advertised,  attractive  to  the 
hurried  glance,  and  not  offensive  to  the  artistic 
taste.  If  the  manufacturers  would  agree  to 
use  standard  sizes  only,  the  artists,  engravers, 
and  printers  can  effectively  take  care  of  the 
"pulling"  properties  of  their  literature. 

The  prevention  of  waste  is  a  greater  factor 
in  the  standardization  scheme  than  any  other 
financial  reason.  The  attractive  and  carefully 
prepared  catalogue  is  often  thrown  in  the 
waste  basket  within  a  day  or  two  after  receipt, 
often  because  the  recipient  has  no  satisfactory 
way  of  filing  it.  The  expense  of  filing  would 
be  greater  than  the  value  of  the  catalogue,  and 
when  it  is  needed  for  reference  a  request  is 
made  for  another,  and  probably  at  some  future 
time,  for  still  another,  until  at  least  two  and 
sometimes  three  or  more  catalogues  are  sent  to 
the  same  party  and  for  a  purpose  for  which 
one  would  have  answered.  This  matter  is  cer- 
tainly of  much  more  importance  now  than  it 
has  ever  been  in  the  past,  as  the  tendency  of 
the  times  is  toward  improvement  in  the  quality 
of  printed  matter  and  it  is  necessary  for  each 
manufacturer  to  have  his  literature  as  good  at 
least,  as  his  competitor's,  and  this  is  resulting 
in  the  increase  in  expense  per  copy  of  each 
piece  of  literature  sent  out. 


324  ENGINEEEING  LITERATURE 

INDEXING  BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS 

The  index  is  the  final  text  feature  of  a  book. 
It  is  at  best  tedious  work,  but  it  is  important. 
The  by-gone  writer  who  exclaimed:  "H — 1  is 
not  hot  enough  for  the  man  who  made  a  book 
without  an  index,"  may  have  been  in  advance 
of  his  age  but  his  comment  was  particularly 
true  of  the  maker  of  scientific,  and  most  espe- 
cially of  reference,  books.  The  need  of  an 
index  being  recognized,  some  ^effort  is  certainly 
warranted  to  make  sure  that  the  index  which 
is  provided  performs  successfully  its  proper 
function.  Yet  the  engineer  who  frequently 
consults  the  literature  of  his  profession  is 
bound  to  be  impressed  with  the  unsatisfactory 
nature  of  the  indexes  with  which  many  en- 
gineering books  are  provided.  There  must  be 
a  reason  for  this,  so  before  taking  up  the  me- 
thod of  actually  making  an  index,  it  is  worth 
while  to  consider  what  constitutes  a  good  in- 
dex and  what  are  the  causes  of  the  faults  in 
many  existing  indexes. 

Some  Rules  to  be  Observed  in  Making  In 
dexes.  In  a  discussion  on  these  questions  some 
years  ago  in  "Engineering  News"*  it  was 
pointed  out  that  most  of  the  faults  of  indexing 
were  due  to  lack  of  classification  and  of  the 
selection  of  key  words  on  the  basis  of  the  fun- 
damental idea  of  the  topic. 

What  constitutes  a  good  index?    The  "Cen- 

*Engineering  News,  April  28,  1898,  and  Aug.  20,  1903. 


INDEXING  BOOKS  325 

tury  Dictionary ' '  definition  given  on  page  300 
is  perhaps  at  fault  in  that  it  does  not  emphasize 
a  little  more  the  distinctive  office  of  indicator 
or  pointer-out,  which  the  index  to  a  book  occu- 
pies. But  neither  the  definition  mentioned  nor 
the  more  general  one  immediately  following  it 
expresses  fully  the  exact  nature  of  a  good  book 
index,  in  which  nearly  all  topics  are  divided 
into  sub-topics,  and  again  into  minor  topics. 
In  the  best  form  of  indexes  only  the  key  words 
of  the  main  topics  are  arranged  alphabetically 
with  reference  to  the  index  as  a  whole,  those  of 
each  sub-topic  being  arranged  under  its 
proper  main  topic  in  alphabetical  sequence  in 
respect  to  themselves  alone.  This  subdivision 
of  alphabetic  lists  may  be  extended  to  any  de- 
gree which  the  nature  of  the  topics  makes  de- 
sirable. In  other  words,  the  element  of  classi- 
fication as  well  as  that  of  alphabetic  arrange- 
ment, enters  into  the  selection  of  the  key 
words,  which  with  their  proper  modifying  and 
qualifying  words  and  page  references,  consti- 
tutes an  index. 

Keeping  alphabetic  arrangement  and  classifi- 
cation in  mind,  the  first  duty  of  an  indexer 
having  a  number  of  topics,  reference  to  which 
is  desirable,  is  to  select  for  each  of  these  topics 
a  key  word  which  a  person  wishing  to  refer  to 
that  particular  topic  is  most  likely  to  think  of 
and  seek.  This  is  evidently  in  many  cases, 
purely  a  matter  of  judgment,  and  it  is  the  diffi- 


326  ENGINEEEING  LITEEATUEE 

eulty  of  judging  exactly  what  word  another 
person  will  think  of  in  any  particular  case 
which  makes  necessary  cross-indexing  and 
cross-reference.  By  cross-indexing  is  meant  the 
indexing  of  the  same  topic  under  two  or  more 
possible  key  words.  Cross-referencing  is  a 
similar  process  but  one  of  a  somewhat  differ- 
ent nature.  Kather  broadly  defined,  a  cross- 
reference  is  a  parenthetical  expression  follow- 
ing a  key  word  which  refers  the  reader  to  an- 
other key  word  where  the  topic  is  fully  in- 
dexed, or  w^here  additional  or  closely  allied 
information  is  to  be  found.  Although  the  se- 
lection of  key  words  is  not  a  process  which 
rules  alone  can  direct,  there  are  certain  general 
rules  governing,  this  work  which  the  indexer 
should  strive  to  follow. 

A  modifying  or  qualifying  word  is  seldom, 
if  ever,  suitable  for  a  key  word.  Such  words 
as  ' assumed,'  'best/  'character'  and  'nature' 
belong  to  this  class,  and  their  uselessness  as 
key  words  may  be  seen  from  a  single  illustra- 
tion. Assume  that  the  topic  to  be  indexed  is 
a  discussion  of  the  character  of  flange  section 
for  plate  girders.  Now,  a  person  desiring  to 
find  this  discussion  would  be  no  more  likely 
to  look  under  'character'  than  he  would  to 
look  under,  say,  'composition'  of  flange  sec- 
tion, 'make-up'  of  flange  section,  'design'  of 
flange  section,  either  of  which  would  express 
the  topic  indexed  quite  as  accurately  as  'char- 


INDEXING  BOOKS  327 

acter. '  The  preceding  rule  is  a  very  elemen- 
tary one,  but  it  is  violated  with  surprising 
frequency  in  book  indexes. 

The  fundamental  idea  of  a  topic  is  not  a  cri- 
terior  for  the  selection  of  the  key  word  by 
which  to  index  it.  Instead,  the  thought  should 
be  first  of  the  classification  under  wrhich  the 
word  properly  comes,  and  second,  what  posi- 
tion in  this  classification  the  topic  occupies; 
that  is,  whether  it  belongs  to  the  main  topic 
or  is  a  part  of  the  sub-topic  under  a  main 
topic.  The  reason  for  this  is,  of  course,  that 
ideas  cannot  be  alphabetized ;  only  words  are 
susceptible  to  this  form  of  arrangement.  Hence 
the  position  of  any  particular  idea  in  an  alpha- 
betical list  is  determined  by  the  sequence  of 
words  employed  to  express  that  idea;  one  ar- 
rangement of  words  may  place  it  near  the  be- 
ginning of  the  alphabet,  while  another  will 
will  place  it  toward  the  end,  and  the  reader 
has  nothing  upon  which  to  base  his  judgment 
as  to  where  it  will  be  found.  If,  however,  we 
first  classify  the  ideas  to  which  we  wish  to 
make  reference  into  main  and  sub-classes 
proceeding  from  the  general  to  the  particu- 
lar, we  finally  limit  the  field  in  which  the  idea 
may  be  located  so  that  it  can  be  found  easily 
and  certainly. 

To  illustrate,  assume  that  the  topic  to  be  in- 
dexed is:  "assumed  up-lift  for  swing-spans." 
The  fundamental  idea  is  uplift  or  end-uplift 


328  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

and  either  might  be  selected  as  a  key  word 
if  we  adopt  the  rule  that  the  fundamental  idea 
of  a  topic  is  the  criterion  for  the  selection  of 
the  key  word  by  which  to  index  the  topic. 
If  'uplift'  is  chosen,  its  alphabetic  position 
is  at  one  end  of  the  index,  and  if  'end-uplift' 
is  chosen,  that  position  is  near  the  beginning 
of  the  index.  If,  however,  we  consider  the 
classification  of  the  idea,  we  should  place  'up- 
lift' as  a  minor  topic  under  the  sub-topic 
'swing-spans,'  under  the  main  topic  'draw- 
bridges. ' 

The  question  may  now  be  asked,  would  a 
reader  desiring  to  look  up  "assumed  uplift 
of  swing-spans"  be  likely  to  think  of  search- 
ing for  it  under  'draw-bridges?'  There  are 
reasons  for  thinking  that  he  would.  'Uplift' 
in  its  special  meaning  here  is  peculiar  to  swing- 
spans  alone,  and  as  a  reader  would  have  swing- 
spans  only  in  mind,  and  never  fixed  spans,  lift 
spans,  or  bascule  spans,  when  seeking  informa- 
tion respecting  'uplift,'  'swing-spans'  seems 
at  least  as  desirable  a  key  word  as  'uplift.' 
The  reason  for  placing  swing-spans  as  a  sub- 
topic  under  draw-bridges  is  that  a  swing-span 
is  only  one  of  several  forms  of  draw-bridges. 
It  might,  however,  be  made  a  main  topic  itself 
and  certainly  would  be  were  the  book  being 
indexed  one  treating  on  draw-bridges  alone. 

It  may  be  accepted  as  a  cardinal  rule  of 
good  indexing  that  if  a  key  word  is  used  at 


INDEXING  BOOKS  329 

all,  then  every  possible  reference  under  that 
head  should  be  included.  The  force  of  this 
rule  will  be  appreciated  if  we  assume  that  a 
person  wishes  to  look  up  all  that  a  book  has 
to  say  on  swing  bridges.  His  natural  course 
would  be  to  look  under  ' swing-spans'  in  the 
index  and  consult  every  reference  he  found 
there.  If  'uplift'  were  not  included  in  these 
references,  he  would  miss  this  important  item 
altogether  unless  he  ran  upon  it  by  chance 
in  consulting  some  of  the  other  topics  re- 
ferred to. 

Undoubtedly  'uplift'  is  also  a  possible  key 
word  for  this  topic,  and  one  which  under  cer- 
tain circumstances  might  be  thought  of  by  a 
reader  rather  than  'swing-spans.'  It  is  ad- 
visable, therefore,  to  cross-index  the  topic 
under  'uplift'  unless  it  should  happen  to  be 
divided  into  several  sub-topics  when  the  key 
word  'uplift'  should  be  made  merely  a  cross- 
reference  to  'swing-spans,'  under  which  would 
be  found  for  the  reasons  stated  a  full  detailed 
index  of  'uplift,'  and  all  its  sub-topics.  In 
such  a  use  it  will  be  seen  that  a  cross-refer- 
ence saves  space  by  avoiding  a  lengthy  repeti- 
tion. Were  there  no  sub-topics  under  'up- 
lift,' then  cross-reference,  instead  of  cross-in- 
dexing, would  be  a  fault,  because  it  would 
necessitate  the  reader  making  another  search 
to  find  nothing  additional  but  the  page  num- 


330  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

ber,  which  might  have  just  as  well  been  given 
him  at  once. 

The  preceding  injunctions  respecting  the  ne- 
cessity of  keeping  classification  of  topics  in 
mind  in  selecting  the  key  words  for  indexing 
them,  do  not  constitute  the  whole  problem  of 
making  an  index,  but  they  do  embody  certain 
cardinal  principles  of  good  indexing  whose 
neglect  is  the  chief  reason  for  many  of  the 
poor  indexes  with  which  engineering  books 
are  provided  and  whose  careful  observance 
will  simplify  very  much  the  labor  of  anyone 
who  has  an  index  to  make. 

Making  the  Index.  The  index  is  made  from 
the  final  page  proofs  and  the  simplest  way 
is  to  apply  the  principles  of  the  card  index, 
using  a  separate  card  or  paper  slip  for  each 
item.  See  that  every  important  idea  is  in- 
dexed and  be  liberal  with  cross-index  refer- 
ences. In  indexing  each  item,  the  references 
should  be  written  out  in  full  with  the  key 
word  at  the  beginning,  and  this  followed  by 
the  page  number.  When  the  writing1  is  com- 
pleted, sort  the  slips  by  the  first  letter,  then 
each  lot  in  order  by  the  second  letter,  and 
so  on  until  they  are  arranged  alphabetically, 
regardless  of  topic.  It  wrill  then  be  found  that 
the  topical  divisions  have  been  automatically 
grouped,  and  the  next  step  is  to  edit  the  index 
by  elimination  of  the  repeated  key  wrords,  and 
rearrangement  of  the  sub-topics  and  sub-sub- 


DEWEY  DECIMAL  SYSTEM  331 

topics  alphabetically  under  their  proper  heads. 
The  completed  index  may  then  be  rewritten  for 
the  printer  or  made  up  by  pasting  the  paper 
slips  on  sheets  in  their  proper  order. 

Expert  indexers  make  use  of  various  time- 
saving  methods  and  devices.  Much  time  can 
be  saved  by  the  use  of  a  stenographer.  It 
will  save  time  and  labor,  if  when  the  page 
proofs  are  read,  key  words  and  items  to  be  in- 
dexed are  underlined  in  pencil;  then  write 
out  the  items  or  dictate  them  to  a  stenogra- 
pher, page  by  page,  having  them  written  con- 
secutively on  a  full  sheet  of,  say,  5  x  11  inches, 
allowing  a  space  of  three-quarters  inch  to  each 
item.  Cut  these  apart,  sort,  and  paste  them 
on  sheets  in  alphabetical  order  as  outlined 
above,  and  in  this  form  prepare  for  printer. 

If  there  have  been  alterations  in  page  proof 
necessitating  the  shifting  of  matter,  or  if  for 
other  reasons,  it  is  desired  to  check  the  index 
by  page  references,  this  should  be  done  by 
using  the  foundry  proofs.  Index  making  is 
now  a  profession  and  if  the  author  desires  to 
save  himself  the  drudgery  of  the  work,  he 
can  obtain  from  his  publisher  the  name  of 
some  capable  index  maker,  who  will  do  the 
work  at  a  moderate  price. 

DEWEY  DECIMAL  SYSTEM  OF  CLASSIFICATION 

The  "Decimal  System"  of  classification  was 
devised  by  Mr.  Melvil  Dewey,  formerly  direc- 


332  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

tor  of  the  New  York  State  Library  and  presi- 
dent of  the  American  Library  Association.  It 
was  originally  intended  to  assist  librarians  in 
the  classification  of  books  and  pamphlets,  but 
it  also  furnishes  an  effective  system  for  classi- 
fying and  indexing  all  kinds  of  literary  ma- 
terial, including  clippings,  catalogues,  reports, 
etc.  It  may  be  applied,  in  connection  with  a 
card  index,  to  periodical  literature,  by  making 
practical  use  of  the  various  published  indexes, 
its  elasticity  making  it  possible  to  effectively 
classify  the  most  specialized  articles. 

EXPLANATION  OF  THE  DEWEY  SYSTEM. 

The  Dewey  System  is  based  on  a  division  of 
the  entire  field  of  special  knowledge  into  nine 
classes,  numbered  from  1  to  9,  and  a  classifica- 
tion, 0,  for  matter  of  a  general,  non-specialized 
Mature.  This  primary  classification  is  : 

0  General  Works          5     Natural  Science 

1  Philosophy  6     Useful  Arts 

2  Religion  7     Fine  Arts 

3  Sociology  8    Literature 

4  Philology  9     History 

Each  of  these  Classes  is  again  divided  into 
nine  Divisions,  with  a  tenth  for  general  mat- 
ter, and  each  Division  is  again  divided  into 
Sections.  This  decimal  subdivision  may  be 
carried  on  to  classify  items  with  as  much  spe- 
cialization as  desired. 


DEWEY  DECIMAL  SYSTEM  333 

"Engineering"  is  classed  as  Division  2  in 
Class  6  (Useful  Arts),  the  Divisions  of  which 
are  as  follows: 

600    Useful  Arts  (General) 

610    Medicine 

620    ENGINEERING 

630    Agriculture 

640     Domestic  Economy 

650     Communication  and  Commerce 

660     Chemical  Technology 

670     Manufactures 

680     Mechanic  Trades 

690     Building 

in  which  the  first  digit  indicates  the  Class ;  the 
second,  the  Division,  and  the  third,  the  Sec- 
tion. After  the  third  digit,  a  decimal  point 
is  inserted  and  further  subdivisions  are  indi- 
cated by  digits  following  this;  for  example, 
621.3,  which  represents  Electrical  Engineering. 

The  various  Sections  of  Engineering  (620) 
are  classed  as  follows: 

620  Engineering  (General) 

621  Mechanical 

622  Mining 

623  Military 

624  Bridge  and  Roof 

625  Road  and  Railroad 
•626     Canal 

627  River  and  Harbor 

628  Sanitary;  Water-works 

629  Other  Branches 


334  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

While  this  classification  has  some  serious 
faults,  and  is  not  used  in  the  classification  of 
published  indexes  of  the  technical  press,  it  is 
not  difficult  to  make  the  adjustment.  For 
instance,  Roads  are  usually  classified  under 
Municipal  Engineering,  which  also  includes 
Sanitary  and  Water-works,  while  Railroads 
have  an  entirely  separate  classification,  but  in 
the  Dewey  System,  Roads  and  Railroads  are 
classed  together,  an  arrangement  which  was 
satisfactory  at  the  time  the  system  was  de- 
vised. 

USES  AND  ADVANTAGES  OF  THE 
DECIMAL  CLASSIFICATION.* 

The  decimal  classification  may  be  used  to 
advantage  in  the  indexing  and  filing  of  notes 
and  memoranda,  clippings,  general  informa- 
tion, articles  in  technical  journals,  drawings, 
catalogs,  and  books.  For  this  purpose  the  dec- 
imal system  possesses  certain  important  ad- 
vantages over  the  alphabetical  system. 

(1)  It  groups  allied  subjects.  .For  example, 
suppose  the  alphabetical  arrangement  to  be 
applied  to  a  case  of  catalogs.  The  catalogs  of 
the  various  machine  tools,  as  planers,  lathes, 
drills,  hammers,  etc.,  would  be  scattered 
throughout  the  case.  With  the  decimal  sys- 


*From  "An  Extension  of  the  Dewey  Decimal  Sys- 
tem of  Classification  Applied  to  the  Engineering  In- 
dustries," by  L.  P.  Breckenridge  and  G.  A.  Goode- 
nough.  Bulletin  No.  9,  University  of  Illinois,  Engi- 
neering Experiment  Station,  Published  November,  1906, 


DEWEY  DECIMAL  SYSTEM  335 

tern,  on  the  other  hand,  all  these  catalogs  would 
be  grouped  together  under  the  class  number 
621.9. 

(2)  Unless    an   elaborate   system   of   cross- 
reference  is  used,  the  alphabetical  scheme  is 
ambiguous;  in  many  cases  there  is  doubt  as 
to  what  letter  should  be  given  a  subject.     For 
example,  take  the  item,  "Automatic  pneumatic 
block    signals."      This    might    almost    equally 
well  be  indexed  under  A,  P,  B  or  S.    With  the 
decimal  system  this  item  has  its  one  number, 
656.256.4. 

(3)  The  decimal  system  has  the  advantage 
of   flexibility   and    an   indefinite    capacity   for 
extension.    For  the  indexing  of  books  and  cat- 
alogs   only    the    main    divisions    and    sections 
will,  in  general,  be  found  necessary;  but  for 
card  indexes  of  technical  literature  the  most 
minute  subdivisions  must  ordinarily  be  used. 
In  individual  cases,  the  user  may  find  that  still 
further  division  is  required.    An  extension  may 
then  be  made  by  adding  another  decimal  place, 
and  if  still  further  subdivision  is  required  still 
another  digit  may  be  used. 

The  average  engineer,  for  example,  can 
easily  index  all  matter  relating  to  traveling 
cranes  under  the  same  class  number,  621.872. 
The  designer  or  builder  of  cranes  may,  how- 
ever, have  so  much  matter  relating  to  this 
special  subject,  that  further  subdivision  is 
needed.  By  the  addition  of  a  digit,  this  matter 


336  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

may  be  divided  into  nine  groups  designated 
by  621.872.1,  621.872.2,  etc. ;  and,  if  necessary, 
each  of  these  may  be  divided  into  nine  new 
groups. 

VARIATIONS  AND  MODIFICATIONS. 

In  the  modern  use  of  the  system  the  main 
divisions  and  sections  as  published  by  Mr. 
Dewey  have  been  retained  unchanged.  It  can- 
not be  denied  that  there  are  many  glaring 
inconsistencies  in  the  arrangement  of  engineer- 
ing subjects.  For  example,  no  engineer  of 
today  would  put  Electrical  Engineering  as  a 
division  under  Mechanical  Engineering  (621.3) 
co-ordinate  with  Blowing  and  Pumping  En- 
gines (621.6) ;  nor  would  he  relegate  Concrete 
to  an  unimportant  place  under  Building  Ma- 
terials. There  is  no  doubt  that  a  committee  of 
competent  engineers  could  vastly  improve  the 
logical  arrangement  of  the  class  numbers  for 
engineering  subjects.  However,  the  system  as 
it  is,  with  its  faults,  has  been  in  use  for  several 
years  and  has  become  more  or  less  universal. 
It  is  used  in  libraries  and  by  many  business 
concerns  and  individuals.  It  has  become  a  sort 
of  standard  like  the  ' '  Sellers ' '  system  of  screw 
threads.  For  this  reason  alone,  radical  changes 
would  be  inadvisable.  The  inexperienced  user 
will  be  likely  to  see  room  for  improvement  and 
will  be  tempted  to  make  changes  in  the  system 
for  his  individual  use.  Such  changes  can  only 


DEWEY  DECIMAL  SYSTEM  337 

lead  to  confusion.  It  is  far  better  to  accept 
the  system  merely  as  an  arbitrary  set  of  num- 
bers corresponding  to  certain  topics  and  reso- 
lutely dismiss  rigid  ideas  of  logical  sequence 
and  consistency. 

There  are  certain  permissible  modifications, 
however,  which  may  be  made  without  violating 
the  integrity  of  the  system.  To  avoid  the  writ- 
ing of  long  numbers  a  single  letter  may  be  used 
for  the  first  three  of  four  digits.  Thus  an 
Electrical  Engineer  would  naturally  have  most 
of  his  material  under  621.3  (Electrical  En- 
gineering), and  for  this  number  he  could  sub- 
stitute the  single  letter  E.  Likewise  a  railroad 
man  might  use  R  for  625  (Railroad  Engineer- 
ing). 

Another  modification  consists  in  the  use  of 
an  alphabetical  arrangement  for  certain  sub- 
sections combined  with  the  decimal  arrange- 
ment for  main  sections.  This  is  sometimes 
useful  in  minute  subdivisions.  For  example, 
under  621.728  (Material  and  Supplies  for  the 
Foundry),  these  various  materials  may  be  ar- 
ranged in  alphabetical  order. 

The  use  of  form  divisions  is  a  modification 
that  may  often  be  employed  to  advantage. 
There  are  certain  set  forms  that  are  used 
throughout  the  whole  range  of  the  Dewey  clas- 
sification. These  are: 


338  ENGINEERING  LITERATUEE 

01  Philosophy  or  theory 

02  Compends,  text-books,  etc. 

03  Cyclopedias,  dictionaries,  etc. 

04  Essays,  addresses,  etc. 

05  Periodicals 

06  Societies 

07  Education,  teaching.     Schools,  colleges, 

universities 

08  Tables,  calculations.     Miscellanies 

09  History.    Progress  and  development. 
These  forms  may  be  further  extended ;  thus : 
064     Exhibits,  etc.    (under  Societies) 

072    Laboratories  (under  Universities) 
Other  form  divisions  that  apply  particularly 
to  Engineering  are  the  following: 

001  Statistics 

002  Quantities  and  costs 

003  Contracts  and  specifications 

004  Designs  and  drawings 

005  Executive 

006  Working  and  maintenance 

007  Laws 

008  Patents 

009  Reports 

These  four  divisions  may  be  enclosed  in 
parentheses  and  annexed  directly  to  the  usual 
class  number.  Thus,  62(07)  indicates  Engi- 
neering Education;  621.32(09),  Progress  in 
Electric  Lighting;  621.57(008),  Patents  on  Ice- 
making  Machinery,  etc.  The  object  of  this 


DEWEY  DECIMAL  SYSTEM  339 

parenthesis  separation  of  the'  form  division  is 
convenience  in  cross-references.  For  example, 
if  one  is  interested  in  Patents  he  may  write  his 
class  numbers  as  follows: 

(008)  62    Patents— Engineering 

(008)66    Patents— Chemical  Technology 

(008)  69     Patents— Building 

In  this  way  all  cards  on  Patents  are  grouped 
together. 

Other  modifications  will  suggest  themselves 
to  the  user  as  he  becomes  more  familiar  with 
the  system. 

To  index  and  file  an  item,  it  is  marked  with 
its  classification  number  and  placed  in  the  nu- 
merical order  thus  indicated  in  the  collection 
which  it  joins.  To  find  an  item,  the  subject 
index  is  consulted  for  the  classification  mark, 
which  gives  the  numerical  place  in  the  collec- 
tion of  all  the  items  the  collection  contains 
under  the  heading  sought.  The  items  under 
each  head  may  be  arranged  alphabetically  by 
authors  or  titles,  and  if  the  collection  is  large 
enough  to  require  it,  the  items  may  be  alpha- 
betically indexed  under  each  head,  though  gen- 
erally the  items  themselves,  properly  arranged, 
furnish  their  own  index. 


XX 

LITERARY  CRITICISM 
CRITICISM  OP  BOOKS  BY  READERS 

Literary  criticism  is  an  art  in  itself;  it  is  a 
branch  of  literature  as  clearly  denned  as  that 
of  the  creation  of  the  work  criticised,  and  in 
many  cases  more  so.  A  book  of  fiction  is  dis- 
tinctly a  creative  work  and  its  critic  is  sup- 
posed to  possess  an  extensive  knowledge  of  exis- 
ting literature  and  of  the  rules  of  literary 
composition,  a  trained  taste  in  selecting  models, 
and  a  quick  imagination  capable  of  perceiving 
comparisons  and  of  setting  forth  vivid  impres- 
sions. On  the  other  hand,  a  technical  work  is 
as  a  rule,  a  compilation  and  sifting  of  the  exis- 
ting literature  on  a  specific  subject,  and  a 
thorough  and  intelligent  criticism  can  be  writ- 
ten only  by  one  who  possesses  a  practical 
knowledge  of  the  subject  and  an  acquaintance 
at  least  with  the  principal  literature  pertaining 
to  it.  In  the  cases  of  individual  reviewers,  one 
or  both  of  these  requirements  are  frequently 
missing.  Partly  for  this  reason,  "Engineering 
News, ' '  in  an  editorial  a  few  years  ago,  made  a 
plea  for  similar  team  work  in  the  criticism  of 
books  as  in  their  writing. 
340 


LITEEAET  CRITICISM  341 

It  lias  already  been  said  that  any  scientific 
book  is  rarely  the  work  of  a  single  man ;  this  is 
even  more  rare  in  the  case  of  engineering  books. 
A  book  dealing  with  any  branch  or  ramifi- 
cation of  engineering  work  must  be  in  the  main 
a  summary  of  the  experiences  and  views  of  a 
great  number  of  men.  The  more  completely  it 
represents  those  views  and  experiences,  the 
greater  is  the  value  of  the  book,  and  the  more 
truly  is  it  a  "storehouse  of  knowledge,"  a 
source  of  instruction  for  the  young,  and  a  man- 
ual of  reference  for  the  old  engineer. 

The  mere  writing  of  a  book  is,  of  course,  usu- 
ally the  task  of  one  man.  But  the  actual  writ- 
er's share  in  the  production  of  the  book  is  only 
that  of  collecting,  averaging,  and  arranging 
the  opinions  and  results  of  those  who  have 
labored  in  the  field  of  which  it  treats.  In  ad- 
dition, it  is  also  his  province  and  duty  to  fore- 
cast, from  the  results  of  their  compilation,  the 
development  of  the  immediate  future.  If  in  this 
work  he  is  able  to  point  the  way  to  improve- 
ment, indicating,  for  example,  how  the  results 
of  the  calculator  and  the  work  of  the  builder 
may  be  harmonized,  he  will  have  produced  a 
book  of  maximum  value.  In  appreciating  this, 
however,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the 
writer  of  the  book  is  only  one  of  its  many 
authors. 

Books  of  engineering,  like  all  other  things, 
are  more  or  less  imperfect,  approaching  perfec- 


342  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

tion  as  a  finite  variable  approaches  its  limit. 
As  a  matter  of  experience,  errors  may,  and  do 
exist  in  books  not  only  after  the  most  careful 
proof-reading,  but  after  revision  and  re-revi- 
sion. Such  errors  may  be  mistakes  of  facts, 
or  mistakes  of  opinion ;  they  may  even  be  mere 
errors  of  omission,  there  being  no  untruth  or 
inaccuracy  in  the  statements  actually  made. 
Whatever  the  nature  of  the  errors,  they  will 
yet  to  some  extent  affect  the  precision  of  the 
teaching  of  the  book,  and  for  that  reason  should 
be  discovered  and  corrected. 

The  correction  of  the  errors  or  inaccuracies 
of  engineering  books  is  of  much  importance. 
Contemporary  and  succeeding  generations  may 
be  misled  by  them  if  they  are  passed  by  and 
are  allowed  to  stand  in  successive  editions  of 
a  work.  Usually,  the  writer  of  a  book  is  suf- 
ficiently interested  in  his  work  to  be  continually 
on  the  look-out  for  errors,  so  that  many  or 
most  of  them  are  corrected  in  a  second  edi- 
tion; though  examples  are  not  wanting  where 
gross  mistakes  have  stood  uncorrected  through 
edition  after  edition.  In  any  case,  however, 
it  is  but  natural  to  expect  that  not  all  the 
errors  will  be  corrected  through  his  efforts 
alone,  especially  such  errors  as  may  involve  his 
personal  opinion  or  point  of  view.  What  is 
required  to  more  rapidly  and  more  completely 
locate  the  errors  in  any  engineering  book  is 
the  co-operation  of  all  its  authors.  A  more 


LITEEAEY  CRITICISM  343 

general  and  more  conscientious  criticism  of 
books  by  their  readers  is  necessary. 

This  subject  deserves  closer  attention  than 
is  accorded  to  it  by  the  majority  of  engineers. 
It  is  not  customary  among  them  to  criticise 
publicly  the  books  that  are  published  for  their 
use ;  that  is  left  for  the  reviewers  of  books,  the 
technical  periodicals  to  whom  the  books  are 
sent  for  this  purpose.  No  doubt  every  engineer 
who  reads  a  work  dealing  with  his  special  field 
makes  definite  mental  criticism  of  all  passages 
which  seem  incorrect  or  otherwise  to  merit  his 
disapproval.  Many  make  a  practice  of  noting 
down  all  such  criticisms,  together  with  the  cor- 
rections which  seem  suitable,  either  in  the  mar- 
gin adjoining  the  passages  in  question  or  on 
separate  correction  slips.  This  is  no  doubt  an 
excellent  practice,  but  few  engineers  realize 
the  importance  of  the  matter  sufficiently  to 
make  known  their  criticisms,  bringing  them  to 
the  attention  of  either  the  author,  or  their  pro- 
fessional colleagues. 

The  writer  of  the  editorial  on  which  this 
chapter  is  based  states  that  the  criticism  of 
technical  books  should  be  considered  as  a  duty 
that  the  engineer  owes  to  his  profession,  and 
therefore  also  to  himself.  Certainly  whatever 
tends  to  increase  the  value  of  technical  books 
by  decreasing  the  errors  which  they  contain 
works  to  the  advantage  of  the  individual  engi- 
neer, who  depends  upon  them  for  the  largest 


344  ENGINEEEING  LITEEATUEE 

part  of  his  information.  As  has  been  indicated 
above,  every  engineer,  broadly  speaking,  has  a 
share  in  the  authorship  of  all  books  in  his  spe4- 
cial  field  of  work  which  are  published  or  re- 
vised during  his  engineering  life;  and  if  his 
views  are  misrepresented  in  any  one  of  these 
books,  or  statements  appear  which  he  believes 
to  be  untrue,  it  is  manifestly  proper  for  him 
to  record  his  disapproval  or  state  his  correc- 
tion in  such  a  manner  that  it  may  become 
known  to  others.  The  importance  of  this  will 
be  more  apparent  when  it  is  reflected  that  a 
large  part  of  engineering  literature  represents 
(or  is  intended  to  represent)  an  average  of 
opinion  or  an  average  of  current  practice  in  re- 
gard to  various  matters  of  design  or  execution. 
It  is  not  always  easy  for  a  single  writer  to 
determine  such  an  average  with  accuracy;  and 
where  it  is  inaccurately  determined  or  stated, 
the  public  criticism  of  many  different  engineers 
is  the  best,  if  not  the  only,  way  to  fix  the  true 
average  and  thus  to  lead  to  the  correction  of 
the  error. 

The  amount  and  kind  of  criticism  possible 
in  book  reviews  of  technical  periodicals  is  quite 
limited.  Not  only  is  the  reviewer's  perusal  of 
a  book  far  different  from  the  thorough  study 
given  to  it  by  its  purchaser  and  user,  but  it  is 
also  true  that  the  reviewer,  however  capable, 
is  but  one.  while  the  users  of  the  book  are 
many;  and  not  every  minor  book  can  be  re- 


LITERARY  CRITICISM  345 

viewed  by  a  specialist.  It  must  be  appreciated, 
too,  that  the  primary  function  of  the  book  re- 
view is  a  general  weighing  and  valuing  of  the 
book  and  outlining  of  its  scope  and  content. 
Criticism  of  details  can  take,  therefore,  only 
a  subordinate  place  in  the  book  review. 

What  has  been  said  relates  almost  wholly  to 
errors  of  omission  and  commission.  It  may 
be  added  that  true  and  broader  criticism  in- 
cludes approval  as  well  as  disapproval  and  that 
it  is  most  useful  when  it  is  constructive  rather 
than  destructive  and  kindly  rather  than  harsh 
and  overbearing.  Different  persons  will  re- 
quire different  service  from  a  given  book.  Some 
persons  will  want  only  those  portions  of  the 
book  that  cannot  be  found  elsewhere  in  engi- 
neering literature,  and  will  consider  the  other 
portions  useless  repetition.  Others  will  require 
fairly  full  explanations  of  everything  connected 
with  the  subject,  and  will  appreciate  the  addi- 
tion of  a  set  of  instructions  for  using  the  slide- 
rule  or  logarithms.  Between  these  two  extremes 
there  is  a  wide  range  of  opinion. 

This  brings  up  the  question,  which  is  worth 
considering  in  this  connection;  for  what  class 
of  readers  technical  books  should  be  and  actu- 
ally are  written.  Many  books,  in  fact,  too 
many,  are  written  expressly  for  students  in  en- 
gineering colleges,  a  common  fault  with  a  book 
of  this  kind  being  that  the  style  and  method 
of  treatment  are  such  that  the  book  requires 


346  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

to  be  digested  in  the  class-room  and  supple- 
mented with  explanations  and  illustrative  lec- 
tures. In  some  cases,  the  simpler  portions  are 
given  in  full  elaboration,  while  the  really  im- 
portant and  difficult  portions  are  treated  synop- 
tically,  to  be  elucidated  in  the  class-room.  In 
other  cases,  the  difficult  parts  alone  are  given, 
while  all  preliminary  explanation  and  definition 
are  left  out,  being  assumed  to  be  supplied  by 
the  students '  previous  study,  or  possibly  inten- 
ded to  be  given  in  lectures  with  experimental 
demonstration.  In  whichever  way  the  book 
is  unbalanced,  it  loses  its  value  as  a  study  text 
for  the  general  reader.  It  would  seem  that 
every  technical  book  should  be  so  logical,  clear, 
and  complete,  in  treatment  and  language,  that 
anyone  possessing  a  reasonable  amount  of  gen- 
eral knowledge  can  read  the  book  understan- 
dingly  without  excessive  difficulty. 

On  page  89  was  mentioned  the  necessity  of 
clearness  and  accuracy  in  statements  made  in 
textbooks,  but  in  spite  of  that  evident  necessity, 
there  are  many  examples  of  needlessly  involved 
statements  or.  explanations  found  in  books  writ- 
ten primarily  for  engineering  students,  such  as 
the  following  in  a  certain  electrical  book : 

1  'The  dynamic  character  of  electromagnetic 
action  is  so  much  in  accord  with  common  me- 
chanical experience  that  the  electromagnetic 
actions  have  been  chosen  to  form  the  basis  for 
the  definition  of  a  system  of  absolute  electrical 
units. ' ' 


LITERARY  CRITICISM  347 

which  sentence  means  rather  less  than  nothing. 

Speaking  more  generally,  it  may  be  claimed 
that  books  should  in  most  cases  be  written  pri- 
marily not  for  the  student,  but  for  the  practic- 
ing engineer.  When  such  a  book  is  then  used 
as  a  class-room  text  it  may  be  cut  down  or  sup- 
plemented as  an  individual  teacher  may  desire. 
Some  engineers  have  even  gone  so  far  as  to  say 
that  when  there  is  no  need  of  a  book  on  a 
given  engineering  subject  except  for  class-ro®m 
study  for  the  use  of  college  instruction,  then 
there  is  no  excuse  for  its  existence. 

The  question  of  what  should  be  included  in 
a  book  dealing  with  a  given  subject,  and  what 
omitted,  admits  of  radical  differences  of  opin- 
ion, even  after  it  is  decided  what  class  of 
readers  the  book  is  intended  to  serve  and  what 
amount  of  preliminary  knowledge  it  should  pre- 
suppose. A  book  on  any  particular  branch  of 
engineering  should  cover  the  full  extent  of  that 
branch,  in  greater  or  less  detail  of  statement 
according  as  it  is  intended  to  reach  a  better  or 
less  well-prepared  circle  of  readers.  The  range 
of  the  subject  should  be  clearly  defined;  its 
practical  extent  should  be  indicated  and  the 
more  purely  theoretical  ramifications  placed  in 
proper  relative  position. 

All  portions  of  the  subject  should  be  treated 
in  equal  detail;  i.  e.,  the  book  should  be  bal- 
anced, except  as  this  may  be  modified  by  the 
demands  of  practice.  On  the  other  hand,  the 


348  ENGINEERING  LITEEATUEE 

line  should  be  drawn  sharply  at  matters  that 
do  not  belong  to  the  special  subject  under  dis- 
cussion. A  book  on  elevated  railway  construc- 
tion should  not  discuss  the  proper  way  to  pre- 
pare concrete.  A  work  on  the  design  of  electri- 
cal machinery  should  not  tell  how  to  mold  in 
green-sand,  though  it  may  discuss  the  quality 
of  cast  iron  in  relation  to  magnetic  properties. 
If  definite  limits  of  this  kind  are  not  fixed,  a 
book  might  be  expanded  to  almost  any  degree, 
and  it  is  not  always  easy  for  an  author  to 
recognize  these  limits;  a  professor's  book  is  apt 
to  be  sketchy,  a  practitioner's  apt  to  be  too 
much  detailed.  Opinions  on  what  should  be  in- 
cluded in  a  book  may  differ  widely,  often  with 
equal  plausibility  in  favor  of  each  side.  Fif- 
teen different  engineers,  if  asked  to  outline  a 
book  on  a  given  subject,  might  present  fifteen 
radically  different  schedules  of  contents.  And 
it  might  be  that  if  fifteen  books  were  written 
to  suit  closely  these  opinions,  a  review  would 
have  to  be  highly  appreciative  in  each  case  and 
yet  that  fourteen  of  the  engineers  in  question 
would  severely  criticise  and  condemn  as  unsa- 
tisfactory the  book  written  to  the  specification 
of  the  fifteenth. 

THE  BOOK  REVIEW 

Upon  publication  of  a  book,  a  number  of 
copies  are  set  aside  for  "review  copies."  These 
are  sent  to  periodicals  whose  readers  are  apt 
to  be  interested  in  such  a  book.  The  publisher 


THE  BOOK  EEVIEW  349 

might  send  the  periodical  merely  an  announce- 
ment of  publication,  which  might  be  printed  as 
an  item  of  news,  but  he  wants  to  find  out  for 
himself  and  for  the  benefit  of  others,  what  the 
experts  think  of  it,  so  he  sends  a  copy  of  the 
book  itself,  usually  with  a  formal  request  for  a 
review  notice.  The  sending  of  a  book  to  a 
periodical  is  primarily  an  announcement  by  the 
publisher  that  such  a  book  is  available,  and  a 
review  of  it  in  the  periodical  is  supposed  to 
be  an  expression  of  expert  opinion  regarding  it. 
Such  a  notice  also  has  a  certain  advertising 
value,  and  the  publisher  counts  on  this.  There 
was  a  time  when  the  "book  review"  was  con- 
sidered for  nothing  more  or  less  than  this  ad- 
vertising value;  when  it  was  merely  a  "write- 
up,"  without  criticism  or  expression  of  expert 
opinion,  for  which  the  periodical  got  the  book 
in  payment,  and  sometimes  an  advertising  or- 
der by  way  of  inducement  for  a  good  notice. 
This  general  abuse  of  the  book  review  does  not 
exist  today,  but  book  publishers  do  still  re- 
ceive many  requests  from  the  smaller  periodi- 
cals for  books  (especially  expensive  books)  for 
"review  purposes"  with  the  promise  of  a  good 
notice.  There  may  be  still  some  periodicals 
which  turn  to  their  personal  advantage  their 
privilege  of  reviewing  books,  but  while  these 
must  be  few  in  number,  it  is  a  fact  that  there 
are  very  few  periodicals  that  review  technical 
books  in  a  fair  and  intelligent  manner.  The 
"Book  Review  Digest" — the  guide  for  libra- 


350  ENGINEEEING  LITERATURE 

rians,  published  in  Minneapolis — has  selected 
only  four  out  of  the  great  number  of  engineer- 
ing periodicals  from  which  to  quote  review 
notices. 

As  a  rule,  the  result  of  reading  a  review  of 
a  technical  book  is  unsatisfactory,  the  dissatis- 
faction increasing  with  the  number  of  reviews 
read.  But  however  the  book  review  may  be 
considered,  it  is  a  recognized  and  useful  feature 
of  our  literature.  It  forms  one  of  the  best 
means  available  to  the  engineer  for  the  judg- 
ment of  books.  It  is  an  important  feature  of 
technical  news  and  every  buyer  and  reader  of 
technical  books  should  know  how  to  read  it 
and  understand  it — not  merely  the  printed 
words,  but  also  " between  the  lines." 

Every  review  has  a  certain  interest  and  value 
to  the  busy  reader,  which  value  increases 
just  in  proportion  as  the  reviewer  dissoci- 
ates the  book  from  commercialism  and  consi- 
ders it  as  a  more  or  less  efficient  working  tool 
of  the  engineer.  A  review  written  with  only  the 
possible  advertising  value  to  the  publisher  in 
mind,  is  of  little  value  to  anyone.  The  "ideal" 
book  review  is  a  disinterested  analysis  and 
appraisement  of  the  value  of  a  book,  judged  by 
the  standard  of  its  usefulness  to  the  class  of 
readers  for  which  the  book  is  intended.  Its 
object  is  to  convey  to  such  readers  information 
that  will  permit  them  to  judge  of  the  value 


THE  BOOK  REVIEW  351 

of  the  book  without  their  personal  examination. 
But  does  the  average  book  review  do  this? 

In  the  first  place,  the  author  and  the  pub- 
lisher have  no  title  to  personal  consideration 
in  the  review  other  than  mere  politeness  would 
dictate ;  no  more  than  the  makers  of  the  differ- 
ent materials  entering  into  the  construction  of 
a  building  have  in  a  published  description  of 
the  building  itself.  It  is,  however,  legitimate, 
and  in  fact,  desirable,- to  tell  something  about 
the  author;  to  make  clear  who  he  is  and  that 
he  has  a  right  to  talk  on  the  subject ;  to  show 
his  point  of  view,  whether  practical,  theoreti- 
cal, or  as  a  constructor,  designer,  teacher,  or 
whatever  else  he  may  be. 

The  qualifications  of  the  reviewer  are  of  pri- 
mary importance.  He  should  be  a  recognized 
authority  on  the  subject  under  review;  a  man 
of  judicial  temperament,  and  possessing  the 
faculty  of  being  able  to  examine  the  book  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  many  readers  inter- 
ested in  the  subject.  A  distinction  should  be 
made  between  a  "reviewer"  and  a  "critic.'* 
The  so-called  "literary  critic"  has  no  legiti- 
mate place  in  technical  literature.  Modern 
"criticism"  is  very  much  of  a  factory  process 
and  the  "critic"  too  often  assumes  the  qualifi- 
cations of  a  man  of  letters  and  the  judgment 
of  a  Solomon,  to  which  he  is  by  no  means  en- 
titled. The  reviewer  of  a  technical  book  is  not 
necessarily  a  critic — he  is  an  appraiser. 


352  ENGINEEEING  LITERATUEE 

The  "ideal"  reviewer  would  be  a  man  of 
infinitely  greater  knowledge  than  the  author, 
but  as  few  men  rush  into  print  on  technical 
subjects  unless  they  know  more  about  the  sub- 
ject than  many  other  men,  and  in  some  cases 
more  than  any  other  man,  this  ideal  reviewer  is 
not  easily  available.  The  next  best  man  is  one 
with  a  judicial  mind,  and  a  good  knowledge 
of  what  has  already  been  published  on  the  sub- 
ject. If  he  has  in  addition  a  wide  personal 
knowledge  of  the  subject,  so  much  the  better, 
provided  he  does  not  permit  his  personal  fads 
to  influence  his  reading  or  to  warp  his  judg- 
ment. For  this  reason,  the  duties  and  oppor- 
tunities of  a  member  of  the  editorial  staff  of  a 
technical  journal  or  of  a  professor  in  a  tech- 
nical college  may  fit  him  to  produce  a  more 
valuable  review  than  an  engineer  of  national 
reputation;  and  this  will  partly  explain  why, 
in  so  many  signed  reviews,  are  seen  the  names 
of  college  professors.  The  engineer's  opinions 
may  be  of  the  utmost  value,  but  they  should 
be  themselves  embodied  in  a  treatise  rather 
than  in  a  review. 

The  essential  components  of  a  technical  book 
are:  Contents,  Preface,  Text,  and  Index.  It 
may,  or  may  not,  be  illustrated,  according  as 
illustration  is  required  to  give  the  reader  a 
concise  and  clear  understanding  of  the  text; 
it  may  be  any  one  of  a  variety  of  shapes  and 
sizes,  and  may  be  bound  in  any  one  of  a  variety 


THE  BOOK  EEVIEW  353 

of  styles.    In  an  "ideal"  review  all  these  fea- 
tures should  have  consideration. 

The  review  itself  should  be  headed  by  the 
publisher's  announcement  of  Title,  Author, 
Binding,  Size,  Number  of  Pages  and  Illustra- 
tions, Publisher's  Name  and  Address,  and  Price 
of  the  book.  These  are  facts  of  first  interest, 
and  convey  to  the  reader  a  mental  picture  of 
the  book,  and  present  a  brief  preliminary  out- 
line of  the  reviewer's  task.  After  the  pub- 
lisher's announcement,  a  note  of  the  general 
scope  of  the  book  may  be  in  order.  This  might 
actually  be  a  summary  of  the  Preface,  or  the 
Introduction,  with  the  addition  of  other  infor- 
mation of  the  same  character  obtained  from  the 
body  of  the  book.  But  if,  as  is  sometimes  done, 
the  author  has  made  use  of  the  Preface  for 
making  too  broad  statements  of  the  qualities  of 
his  book  and  of  himself,  the  conscientious  re- 
viewer will  ignore  these  expressions  of  self- 
esteem  and  look  on  the  Preface  merely  as  an 
indication  of  the  intention  of  the  author,  which 
should  have  due  consideration  in  his  appraise- 
ment. 

Next  in  order  would  come  an  outline  of  the 
book,  possibly  based  on  the  "Table  of  Con- 
tents, ' '  and  dealing  with  the  general  division  of 
the  subject  into  parts,  and  possibly  descend  to 
the  subdivision  into  chapters,  or  at  least,  into 
groups  of  chapters.  It  should  show  clearly  the 
scope  of  the  work  and  should  indicate  the 


354  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

amount  of  space  devoted  to  each  phase  of  the 
subject.  In  this  connection,  the  extent  to  which 
logical  arrangement  has  been  secured  may  well 
be  discussed. 

The  reviewer  may  then  enter  into  the  details 
of  his  appraisement  of  the  book,  to  such  an  ex- 
tent as  may  be  warranted  by  the  importance 
of  the  work  and  the  subject  to  which  it  relates, 
or  as  available  space  in  the  periodical  may  ad- 
mit. A  complete  review  would  note  especially 
the  new  things,  comment  on  the  author's  treat- 
ment of  the  old  by  comparison  with  that  of 
others,  would  notice  errors,  and  possibly  com- 
ment on  the  treatment  of  disputed  points.  Com- 
ments on  the  completeness  of  the  treatment 
and  the  poor  proportionment,  and  the  noting  of 
errors  and  omissions,  call  for  a  knowledge  of 
other  works  and  for  good  judgment.  Such 
comments  should  be  specific  and  should  be 
clearly  shown  to  be  opinions  that  may  be  ac- 
cepted or  rejected  by  the  reader  at  his  discre- 
tion, but  they  should  plainly  indicate  that  the 
reviewer  has  read  the  book,  and  not  merely 
glanced  over  the  Preface  and  Contents  and  a 
few  of  the  text  pages.  By  such  a  reading,  some 
statement  is  likely  to  be  picked  out  and  com- 
mented upon,  while  a  qualifying  statement  is 
entirely  overlooked,  and  a  wrong  impression  is 
thereby  given  that  might  have  been  avoided  if 
the  whole  section  had  been  carefully  read.  It 
reminds  one  of  the  negro  preacher  who  at- 


THE  BOOK  REVIEW  355 

tempted  to  prove  that  the  Lord  was  opposed  to 
the  women's  head-dress  of  today  by  preaching 
a  sermon  on  the  text  "Top  knot  come  down," 
taken  from  the  sentence:  "Let  him  who  is  on 
the  house-top  not  come  down." 

It  is  often  advisable  to  place  the  book  in  its 
relation  to  other  literature  on  the  subject,  but 
this  should  not  be  taken  as  an  opportunity  to 
present  the  reviewer's  pet  theories.  Too  many 
reviewers  pick  out  some  weak  point  or  some 
matter  with  which  they  are  well  acquainted 
and  convert  the  greater  part  of  the  review  into 
a  technical  or  mathematical  presentation  of 
their  views.  Or  they  select  a  number  of  minor 
points  in  which  their  practice  would  be  unlike 
that  of  the  authors,  and  explain  at  considerable 
length  how  they  would  do  it,  Such  reviews 
usually  conclude  with  a  general  condemnation 
of  the  book,  or  in  the  warm  glow  of  having  had 
their  say,  w^ind  up  with  the  formula :  "In  gen- 
eral, the  book  is  well  written,  shows  the  author 
to  have  an  extensive  knowledge  of  the  sub- 
ject, and  should  be  on  the  desk  of  every  engi- 
neer, etc.,  etc." 

To  all  readers  it  is  important  to  know  if 
the  book  contains  later  material  than  a  book 
of  last  year;  if  it  treats  the  subject,  or  the 
several  parts  of  the  main  subject,  more  or  less 
thoroughly  than  a  certain  other  book;  if  it 
is  more  practical,  mathematical,  theoretical, 
statistical,  or  general,  and  whether  it  is  for 


356  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

use  as  a  text-book  or  for  reference  only.  The 
reviewer  can  do  good  service  to  the  reader  in 
this  if  he  is  capable. 

An  important  part  of  the  review  is  an  estima- 
tion of  the  value  of  the  Index,  and  this  may  also 
be  said,  but  to  a  less  degree,  of  the  Contents. 
Engineering  treatises  are  not  bought,  like  nov- 
els, to  be  read  and  cast  aside.  Many  of  them 
are  never  read  through.  Their  greatest  value 
is  for  reference  and  they  should  be  written  and 
published  with  that  point  in  view.  Every  such 
book  should  have  an  intelligently  made  and 
comprehensive  index;  the  book  is  incomplete 
without  it,  and  imperfect  if  it  is  not  well  made. 
On  this  feature,  the  reviewer,  if  competent,  may 
make  some  criticisms.  The  feature  of  illus- 
trations is  also  open  to  criticism,  as  there  is 
often  too  much  carelessness  displayed  in  pre- 
paring illustrations  for  technical  books. 

Finally,  the  work  of  the  publisher,  such  as 
the  binding,  press-work,  and  other  mechanical 
features,  must  be  considered,  and  here  also  the 
review  may  be  carried  to  the  point  of  criticism. 
Books  of  fiction  may  often  be  selected  from  the 
cover  design  and  their  fancy  typography,  but 
engineering  books  cannot  be  judged  in  that 
way,  any  more  than  the  value  of  a  painting  may 
be  judged  from  the  amount  of  gilt  on  its  frame. 

It  must  be  understood  that  this  outline  of 
a  useful  review  applies  to  books  of  real  worth. 
The  ideal  review  for  an  inefficient  or  harmful 


THE  BOOK  REVIEW  357 

book,  is  silence.  Mediocre  books  are  best 
handled  by  a  few  general  statements  as  to 
treatment,  contents,  etc.,  and  mention  of  their 
few  good  points.  The  fewness  of  the  good  fea- 
tures mentioned  by  the  reviewer  will  speak 
as  loudly  as  a  detailed  list  of  errors  and  omis- 
sions. Valuable  books  that  appeal  to  a  very 
small  public  are  often  treated  in  the  same  way 
as  worthless  or  mediocre  productions,  because 
a  periodical  cannot  afford  to  devote  undue  at- 
tention to  affairs  that  interest  a  small  reading 
public  only,  unless  the  extraordinary  merit  of 
the  work  compels  attention  as  a  matter  of  gen- 
eral scientific  progress.  This  is  unfortunate 
for  both  reader  and  author,  but  it  must  be  so. 
As  to  the  review  itself,  it  should  be  read- 
able. A  dry-as-dust  review,  although  full  of 
real  information  and  praise,  would  injure  any 
book.  Then  also,  the  reader  would  like  to  know 
who  is  responsible  for  the  review.  He  has 
placed  his  opinions  on  record,  and  is  open  to 
a  reply  from  the  author,  which  may  possibly 
result  in  an  unseemly  controversy.  The  re- 
viewer who  permits  himself  to  pat  the  author 
on  the  back,  to  savagely  criticise,  to  act  with 
partiality  to  the  publisher,  or  to  confuse  the 
issue  by  expounding  his  own  theories,  causes 
his  readers  to  waste  valuable  time  and  money, 
or  prevents  the  spreading  of  useful  informa- 
tion. Fortunately,  the  signed  review  seems  to 
be  gaining  in  favor,  and  though  it  requires 


358  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

more  courage  to  write  over  one's  signature  than 
anonymously,  it  gives  more  weight  to  the  opin- 
ions expressed. 

The  reader  who  is  attracted  by  the  title  or 
subject  of  a  book,  approaches  the  review  with 
the  question  in  mind,  "If  I  purchase  and  read 
this  book,  will  my  time  and  money  have  been 
expended  to  the  best  advantage?"  And  in 
so  far  as  the  review  answers  that  question  to 
the  satisfaction  of  all  who  are  likely  to  use 
the  book,  that  review  is  ideal.  But  "ideal" 
book  reviews  are  rare  and  only  occasionally 
shine  out  among  a  far  greater  number  of  "noti- 
ces" that  convey  to  the  reader  nothing  but 
meaningless  platitudes.  A  good  book  is  an 
asset,  a  paying  investment,  a  silent  partner, 
working  constantly  in  the  interests  of  its  read- 
ers; an  unreliable  book  is  a  menace,  a  source 
of  danger,  leading  its  trusting  reader  into  un- 
told trouble,  that  may  result  in  possible  disas- 
ter and  a  ruined  reputation.  The  "Book  Re- 
view" is  subject  to  much  manipulation  and 
can  easily  damage  a  worthy  book  or  crown  the 
most  unreliable  work  with  a  halo  of  Pecksnif- 
fian  virtue. 


XXI 


THE  ENGINEER'S  LIBRARY 

Libraries  are  of  two  general  kinds:  public 
and  private.  Public  libraries  vary  in  charac- 
ter according  to  the  public  they  are  intended 
for;  private  libraries — which  include  such 
special  libraries  as  those  maintained  by  vari- 
ous industrial  and  financial  corporations  for 
their  own  use — vary  according  to  the  special 
business  interests  and  the  idiosyncrasies  of 
their  owners,  for  the  engineer,  just  as  any 
other  man,  may  have  his  literary  preferences, 
prejudices,  and  hobbies.  The  present  purpose 
is  not,  however,  to  treat  of  such  specialties, 
but  of  the  library  in  general  as  one  of  the 
tools  of  the  engineer's  workshop. 

The  importance  of  a  library  is,  as  a  rule, 
little  appreciated  by  the  engineering  student, 
To  him.  his  books  and  periodicals  merely  in- 
troduce new  thoughts  which  it  is  the  duty  of 
his  instructors  to  make  clear.  Too  often  the 
graduate  ©f  a  technical  college  goes  out  into 
the  world  with  the  idea  that  he  is  an  en- 
gineer of  experience  and  instead  of  making 
provision  for  the  continuance  of  his  studies 
and  taking  a  just  pride  in  the  formation  of 
a  working  library,  he  even  sells  his  text-books 
359 


360  ENGINEERING  LITEKATUEE 

and  throws  away  his  periodicals  as  soon  as  he 
has  passed  his  final  examinations  and  received 
his  diploma.  What  would  he  think  of  the 
brains  of  an  engineer  who,  finding  that  his  train 
was  moving  at  sixty  miles  an  hour,  shut  off 
steam  and  trusted  to  the  train  to  keep  on  mov- 
ing to  the  end  of  the  line  ?  The  only  direction 
in  which  it  will  go  without  motive  power  is 
down  hill — and  at  the  bottom  it  will  stop.  It 
is  as  true  of  study.  The  student  who  stops 
the  study  of  his  professional  literature  on  his 
graduation  loses  momentum  and  will  soon  find 
himself  occupying  an  inferior  position.  His 
roll  of  parchment  and  degree  signify  nothing 
more  than  a  guarantee  of  a  certain  amount  of 
training,  which  has  brought  him  to  the  point 
where  he  must  face  the  real  problems  of  life 
without  the  guiding  hand  of  his  instructors; 
when  he  must  depend  upon  his  own  resources 
and  the  use  he  makes  of  the  literature  of  his 
profession. 

The  successful  engineer,  on  the  other  hand, 
uses  this  literature  as  a  practical  working 
tool.  He  forms  as  extensive  a  library  as  cir- 
cumstances will  permit,  not  on  the  old  idea 
of  an  accumulation  of  books  to  be  looked  at 
when  wanted,  but  on  the  modern  idea  of  an 
educational  institution,  where  he  can  carry  on 
his  studies  on  any  subject  desired.  As  Car- 
lyle  said,  "the  true  university  of  these  days 


THE  ENGINEER'S  LIBRARY  361 

is  a  collection  of  books;"  from  this  school  the 
engineer  never  graduates. 

Extent  of  the  Engineer's  Library.  A  good 
library  is  like  a  cyclopedia — not  a  mere  ag- 
gregation of  pages  to  be  read  through,  but  a 
vast  repository  of  learning  for  continual  use 
and  reference.  But  what  should  a  good  li- 
brary for  the  engineer  contain?  The  time  was 
when  a  well-thumbed  copy  of  'Trautwine'  and 
a  note-book  for  memoranda  of  experiences  a.id 
observations,  constituted  a  satisfactory  library 
for  the  average  engineer.  In  those  days  the 
scarcity  of  technical  books"  and  the  limited  ex- 
tent of  engineering  practice  rendered  such  a 
compendium  of  practical  information  neces- 
sary, and  at  the  same  time,  sufficient  for  all 
needs.  Since  that  time,  the  great  development 
of  engineering  work,  the  daily  increasing  mass 
of  professional  literature,  and  the  wide  dis- 
semination of  engineering  knowledge  through 
many  educational  institutions  have  altered  the 
conditions  and  made  necessary,  and  have  also 
provided  for,  a  wider  range  of  reading.  Mr. 
Charles  W.  Baker,  in  addressing  the  students 
of  the  University  of  Michigan,  thus  illustrated 
the  extent  of  information  required  for  the 
successful  practice  of  any  one  branch  of  en- 
gineering : 

Take,  for  example,  that  branch  of  engi- 
neering known  as  Water  Power  Develop- 
ment. We  do  not  have  to  go  back  more 
than  forty  years  to  reach  the  time  when 


362  ENGINEEEING  LITERATURE 

the  old  '  millwrights '  were  the  men  who  actu- 
ally did  all  the  work  that  was  done  in  this 
country  in  the  development  of  water-power. 
All  the  knowledge  they  needed  was  carried 
under  their  hats,  with  perhaps  some  few 
rules  copied  in  a  private  note-book.  To-day, 
however,  an  engineer  who  conducts  a  water- 
power  development  enterprise  must,  either 
directly  or  through  assistants,  be  familiar 
with  the  latest  practice  in  stream  gaging, 
dam  construction,  hydraulic  motors  and 
regulators,  electric  generation,  transmission 
and  utilization,  and  power-house  construc- 
tion, to  say  nothing  of  such  matters  as  the 
relation  between  engineers  and  contractors, 
executive  methods,  dealings  with  labor  or- 
ganizations, franchises  and  riparian  rights. 
It  may  be  well,  also,  for  him  to  know  how 
to  handle  a  board  of  directors  and  float  a 
bond  issue. 

Perhaps  you  may  object  that  no  one  en- 
gineer can  do  all  this,  but  the  fact  is  that 
engineers,  in  the  aggregate,  are  doing  all 
these  things;  and  that  every  successful  en- 
gineer to-day  finds  himself  constantly  in 
need  of  knowledge  that  he  cannot  carry  in 
his  head  and  for  which  he  must  rely  on  the 
experience  of  others,  as  recorded  in  his  pro- 
fessional literature. 

From  this  it  would  seem  that  the  average 
engineer  has  need  for  a  wide  variety  of  in- 
formation, implying  an  extensive  range  of 
study.  It  is  not  necessary,  however,  that  he 
cover  all  these  subjects  in  his  own  library. 
The  nature  and  extent  of  his  personal  library 
should  be  considered  in  connection  with  the 


THE  ENGINEER'S  LIBEAEY  363 

accessibility  of  public  libraries  containing  the 
class  of  literature  he  may  have  occasional  need 
for.  No  matter  how  extensive  may  be  his  own 
literary  resources,  every  engineer  has  frequent 
need  for  study  outside  the  ordinary  line  of  his 
work  and  the  scope  of  his  library.  He  is 
forced  to  resort  to  the  public  library,  where  he 
usually  finds  that  the  insatiable  demand  for 
popular  fiction  makes  such  a  drain  upon  the 
funds  of  the  institution  that  there  are  few 
technical  books  on  its  shelves  and  that  these 
few  are  poorly  classified  and  hard  to  locate. 
It  is  a  lamentable  fact  that  outside  of  the  col- 
lections of  a  few  technical  societies  and  col- 
leges the  attention  paid  by  libraries  to  scien- 
tific books  is  far  below  that  required  by  their 
importance,  and  only  in  three  or  four  instances 
has  sufficient  attention  been  given  to  them  to 
make  this  department  really  useful  to  engi- 
neers. 

In  some  of  the  larger  cities,  especially  in 
New  York,  where  libraries  of  all  kinds  are 
easily  accessible,  the  engineer  need  possess 
only  books  of  his  active  specialty,  and  a  good 
collection  of  works  of  reference,  but  in  the 
country  and  in  small  towns,  far  away  from 
libraries  containing  technical  books,  a  rather 
extensive  and  well-selected  collection  of  stand- 
ard works  is  necessary.  Both  the  city  and  the 
country  engineer  would  naturally  require  cer- 
tain standard  works  of  the  profession  and 


364  ENGINEERING  LITEEATUEE 

some  of  the  best  treatises  on  their  specialties; 
they  would  require  also  the  leading  periodi- 
cals devoted  to  certain  phases  of  engineering 
work,  and  the  published  transactions  of  such 
societies  as  they  may  be  members  of. 

Then,  also,  some  engineers  have  need  for 
what  might  be  called  'traveling  libraries,'  in 
which  everything  necessary  on  a  certain  trip 
could  be  carried  in  a  comparatively  small 
space.  With  a  good  'pocket-book,'  together 
with  some  convenient  system  of  filing  miscel- 
laneous information,  such  as  explained  on  page 
307,  the  traveling  engineer  can  equip  himself 
with  a  vast  collection  of  information  in  very 
compact,  portable,  and  accessible  form. 

In  the  formation  of  his  library,  the  great 
mass  of  current  literature  offers  the  engineer 
a  difficult  problem,  As  already  indicated,  he 
needs  a  wride  range  of  information.  Speciali- 
zation in  reading  does  not  solve  the  problem. 
There  are  no  tight  lines  drawn  between  the 
various  engineering  specialties,  but  on  the  con- 
trary, they  overlap  in  all  directions ;  no  branch 
of  engineering  can  stand  alone ;  results  of 
value  are  obtained  by  team-work,  co-operation, 
and  co-ordination.  In  a  general  way  it  may 
be  said  that  only  the  young  engineer  attempts 
to  specialize  within  very  narrow  limits,  and 
that  the  older  he  grows  in  years  and  profes- 
sional experience,  the  more  he  realizes  the 
interdependence  of  the  various  branches  of  en- 


THE  ENGINEER'S  LIBRARY        •         365 

gineering.  With  this  realization  comes  an  ex- 
tension of  his  reading  and  the  necessary  limits 
of  his  library.  A  workman  in  a  Portland  ce- 
ment works,  for  instance,  may  confine  his 
study  to  cement  manufacture  and  still  possess 
all  the  knowledge  necessary  for  good  work, 
but  the  engineer  of  the  works,  who  is  inter- 
ested in  the  use  of  cement  in  bridges,  build- 
ings, dams,  etc. ;  in  mining  and  quarrying,  in 
steam-shovels,  kilns,  hoisting  and  conveying 
machinery,  and  in  the  conveying  of  materials, 
needs  something  more  than  the  literature  of 
Portland  cement  manufacture.  "The  most  ef- 
fective specialist  is  the  man  who  keeps  in  good 
contact  with  the  world  at  many  points  at  the 
same  time  that  he  brings  great  pressure  to 
bear  on  his  one  specialty."* 

Another  reason  why  an  engineer  cannot 
make  his  reading  of  too  limited  a  scope  lies 
in  the  fact  that  in  all  construction  work  the 
engineer  is  constantly  working  himself  out  of 
a  job,  and  every  change  presents  new  prob- 
lems for  solution.  It  will  be  readily  under- 
stood, therefore,  why  the  question  of  a  too 
voluminous  engineering  literature  cannot  be 
disposed  of  simply  by  saying  that  each  en- 
gineer shall  read  the  literature  of  his  own  spe- 
cial branch.  If  he  is  wise  and  ambitious,  he 
will  read  that  and  much  more. 


*Prof.  John  F.  Hayford  in  paper  before  S.  P.  E.  E. 
on  "Why  Not  Teacn  About  Men?"  Ithaca,  1906. 


366  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

'Engineering  literature'  as  a  general  term, 
includes  such  material  as  periodicals,  books, 
trade  publications,  pamphlets,  bulletins  and 
proceedings  issued  by  the  Government,  by 
learned  societies  and  by  individuals.  Each  of 
these  classes  has  a  certain  value  to  the  engi- 
neer, but  it  is  with  books  and  periodicals  that 
he  is  brought  into  closest  contact.  In  the  selec- 
tion of  this  literature,  he  meets  many  difficul- 
ties and  disappointments,  which  can,  to  a  cer- 
tain extent,  be  overcome  by  a  brief  study  of 
the  general  subject. 

This  study  includes,  in  the  case  of  books,  a 
consideration  of  the  vast  quantity  and  the 
many  varieties  from  which  the  engineer  has  to 
select  those  most  suited  to  his  needs,  and  the 
means  of  selection  open  to  him ;  also  some  con- 
sideration of  the  book  itself,  its  make-up  and 
character;  the  author,  the  publisher,  and  the 
opinions  of  others  regarding  it.  Some  of  these 
features  have  been  treated  elsewhere;  here 
quantity,  variety,  and  selection  of  books  will 
be  discussed.  The  subject  of  periodicals  is 
quite  different.  It  reduces  itself  essentially  to 
a  question  of  what  kind  of  literature  the  en- 
gineer will  read  that  his  time  and  money  may 
be  expended  to  the  best  advantage  and  what 
periodicals  will  give  him  the  greatest  amount 
of  such  useful  information. 

When  one  considers  the  vast  quantities  of 
technical  books  and  periodicals  that  are  issued 


THE  ENGINEER'S  LIBRARY  307 

annually,  not  to  mention  the  thousands  of 
other  publications,  and  further  considers  that 
this  flood  of  literature  is  the  production  of 
America  alone  and  that  England,  France,  and 
Germany  are  also  producing  such  literature  in 
greater  or  less  quantities,  it  will  be  realized 
how  distinctly  modern  was  the  comment  of  the 
wise  man  of  twenty  centuries  ago  when  he 
said:  "Of  the  making  of  many  books  there 
is  no  end."  The  most  industrious  reader  of 
to-day  could  read  but  a  very  small  proportion 
of  the  printed  matter  on  any  live  engineering 
subject;  he  must  face  the  difficult  problem  of 
digging  out  of  it  those  things  that  are  most 
necessary  to  his  success,  and  in  this  there  is  a 
wide  range  of  choice  open  to  him. 

Some  technical  books  are  good  literature 
but  poor  engineering  practice ;  others  are  good 
practice  but  very  poor  literature.  As  already 
said,  the  greater  number  of  them  consist  of 
compilations  of  material  from  various  sources. 
The  original  records  of  experiments  and  de- 
scriptions of  works  are  usually  found  in  the 
columns  of  the  technical  periodicals  and  the 
proceedings  of  engineering  societies.  The  peri- 
odical publication  tends  to  reflect  the  practice 
of  the  immediate  past,  the  work  of  the  pres- 
ent, and  plans  for  the  future.  Time  alone 
can  prove  the  truth  of  these  theories  and  the 
value  of  this  practice.  "When  that  time  comes, 
and  the  subject  has  become  one  of  live  inter- 


368  ENGINEEEING  LITERATURE 

est,  and  the  accumulation  of  material  has  be- 
come more  or  less  voluminous,  some  one 
undertakes  to  compile  and  classify  it  and 
re-write  it  for  publication  in  book  form.  Thus, 
the  book  may  be  said  to  be  a  permanent  rec- 
ord of  approved  practice,  reflecting  the  opera- 
tions of  the  past,  from  a  year  to  ten  years  or 
more. 

The  many  varieties  of  books  are  due  to  the 
varied  experience,  knowledge,  and  judgment 
of  their  authors;  to  their  ability  or  inability 
as  writers;  and  to  their  objects  in  writing  the 
books — whether  the  aim  is  to  fill  a  gap  in  the 
existing  literature  of  the  subject  or  merely  to 
produce  a  commercial  article  for  the  sake  of 
the  royalties  resulting  from  its  sale. 

One  variety,  unfortunately  too  common  to- 
day, is  the  compilation  of  descriptive  matter 
from  trade  catalogues  or  other  sources,  re- 
hashed into  fairly  readable  style  by  writers 
who  know  little  or  nothing  about  their  sub- 
jects. The  opposite  variety,  which  may  be 
classed  as  the  average  good  book,  is  the 
smoothly-reading  and  well-balanced  treatise, 
prepared  by  a  writer  of  literary  ability  and 
practical  experience,  from  material  compiled 
from  reliable  sources  and  with"  good  judgment 
of  its  technical  value.  Neither  of  these  books, 
however,  really  adds  anything  to  our  store  of 
knowledge,  but  while  the  'hack'  book  is,  as 
a  rule,  unreliable  and  thoroughly  useless,  from 


THE  ENGINEER'S  LIBKARY  369 

the  engineer's  point  of  view,  the  other  presents 
the  best  of  the  available  knowledge  of  the 
subject  in  easily  accessible  form  and  should  be 
a  valuable  and  welcome  addition  to  his  library. 

Technical  books  are  usually  written  for  one 
of  two  classes  of  readers — practitioners,  in 
which  class  may  be  included  the  mechanic  and 
the  engineering  tradesman,  and  students.  They 
might  be  designated  respectively  *  Treatises' 
and  'Text-books/  the  former  treating  the  sub- 
jects more  exhaustively  and  technically  than 
the  latter.  Whether  engineering  books  should 
be  written  primarily  for  the  student  or  the 
practitioner  has  been  discussed  on  page  345. 

A  class  of  books  which  deserves  special  con- 
sideration is  the  valuable  reference,  or  'hand' 
or  'pocket'  books.  In  this  age  of  reference 
books  it  may  be  taken  as  a  general  principle 
that  as  knowledge  of  any  engineering  subject 
increases,  and  the  literature  of  that  subject  be- 
comes too  voluminous  and  unwieldly,  there  are 
sure  to  be  forthcoming  those  who  will  reduce 
the  facts  to  the  form  of  general  treatises,  and 
when,  in  turn,  these  become  too  numerous, 
their  contents  will  again  be  sifted  and  con- 
densed to  the  handy  form  of  a  'pocket-book.' 
The  best  of  these  books  are  the  results  of  years 
of  patient  and  laborious  study,  compilation, 
and  selection  of  facts,  by  men  combining  ex- 
ceptional literary  ability  with  education  and 


370  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

wide  practical  experience.  They,  with  a  few 
of  the  standard  treatises,  may  be  called  the 
' classics'  of  the  engineering  profession;  they 
are  few  in  comparison  with  the  other  varieties 
of  books  and  a  representative  selection  cover- 
ing the  principal  fields  of  engineering  should 
be  found  in  every  library. 

There  are  other  kinds  of  books — some  ad- 
vocate the  personal  fads  of  their  authors; 
some  are  padded  with  useless  words  and  il- 
lustrations, while  others  have  a  scarcity  of 
facts;  some  assume  too  high  a  plane  of  impor- 
tance for  their  subjects,  while  others  are  too 
modest;  some  describe  obsolete  appliances  and 
by-gone  practice,  while  others  are  too  ad- 
vanced in  their  statements. 

One  of  the  most  important  points  to  be  con- 
sidered in  connection  with  technical  books  is 
the  fact  that  they  go  out  of  date  quickly,  and 
an  out-of-date  technical  book  is  of  little  more 
interest  or  enlightening  value  than  the  prover- 
bial "candle  under  a  bushel."  In  no  field  of 
modern  endeavor  has  progress  been  so  rapid 
as  in  that  of  engineering,  and  the  constant 
production  of  new  books  is  necessary  to  keep 
pace  with  this  development.  For  instance,  on  the 
subject  of  'Roads  and  Pavements/  which  are 
so  much  a  part  of  our  every-day  life  that  we 
almost  cease  to  regard  them  as  engineering 
problems,  the  writer  compiled  a  Bibliography* 

*Published  as  an  Appendix  on  "The  Art  of  Road- 
making." 


THE  ENGINEER'S  LIBRARY  371 

containing  nearly  500  book  titles,  and  includ- 
ing only  names  of  books  of  historic  or  prac- 
tical value,  omitting  all  trade  publications  and 
a  vast  number  of  pamphlets  of  merely  local 
or  passing  interest.  The  list  covers  the  period 
from  about  1600  to  date,  divided  into  three 
sections :  Previous  to  1800  (200  years)  con- 
taining 65  titles;  1800  to  1900  (100  years)  con- 
taining 250  titles;  and  1900  to  1910,  contain- 
ing about  150  titles.  And  the  literature  of  this 
subject  is  not  nearly  as  voluminous  as  that 
of  some  others. 

Now,  what  is  the  cause  of  this  great  pro- 
duction of  books  on  the  comparatively  simple 
subject  of  'Roadmaking'?  Mainly  progress. 
The  first  book  listed  in  this  Bibliography  is  one 
entitled  "The  Duties  of  Constables  and  Sur- 
veyors of  Highways,"  published  in  1583.  This 
was  for  a  long  time  the  only  book  on  highways 
and  ran  through  seven  editions  in  twenty-five 
years.  Highways  in  those  days  were  merely 
routes,  with  no  attempt  at  maintenance.  In 
1610,  an  enterprising  citizen  recognized  this, 
and  wrote  a  book  called  "A  Profitable  Work 
Concerning  the  Mending  of  Highways,"  which 
made  people  think,  and  caused  the  produc- 
tion of  several  books  setting  forth  various 
methods  of  making  highway  repairs. 

Then  Tresauguet,  in  France,  devised  a  new 
system  of  road  construction,  which  was  later 
improved  upon  by  Macadam,  Telford,  and  Met- 


372  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

calf,  in  England,  who  made  road-making  a 
science  and  brought  it  within  the  scope  of  en- 
gineering. In  their  day,  stones  were  broken 
and  distributed  by  hand,  and  rollers,  when 
used  at  all,  were  drawn  by  horses;  to-day, 
we  have  the  stone  crusher,  the  steam  roller, 
road  graders,  and  other  mechanical  devices  for 
road  construction,  as  well  as  a  large  variety 
of  road-making  materials.  A  few  years  ago 
streets  were  'cleaned'  by  rain  and  wind;  to- 
day, street-cleaning  is  a  science  calling  for  a 
great  variety  of  mechanical  appliances  and 
presenting  many  engineering  problems.  Until 
quite  recently  roads  were  built  to  accommodate 
ordinary  horse  and  foot  traffic  only;  now  they 
must  be  built  to  withstand  the  damaging  ef- 
fects of  the  automobile  and  our  comfort  de- 
mands that  they  shall  be  dustless.  All  this  de- 
velopment called  for  new,  and  more  and  more 
specialized,  literature. 

As  in  road-making,  so  in  every  other  field 
of  activity — every  advance  in  civilization  de- 
mands progress  in  engineering  science  and  the 
wheels  of  progress  are  always  in  mesh  with 
those  of  the  printing  press.  With  each  ad- 
vance, many  books  become  antiquated,  and 
new  treatises  are  constantly  required.  The 
best  of  these  may  run  through  several  editions, 
and  remain  standard  for  some  years,  but  the 
'revised  and  enlarged'  editions  of  even  the 
most  reliable  and  comprehensive  treatise  must 


THE  ENGTNflTCR'S  LIBRARY  373 

eventually  give  place  to  the  entirely  new  book, 
written  with  the  more  modern  conditions  as 
a  basis. 

Pages  could  be  quoted  from  many  techni- 
cal books  published  during  the  past  ten  years 
or  less,  to  show  of  how  little  value  much  of 
this  literature  is  to-day,  and  the  uselessness  of 
the  books  of  yesterday.  But  it  may  well  be 
argued  that  no  technical  book  can  be  kept 
strictly  up  to  date.  In  fact,  so  rapid  is  the 
development  of  modern  engineering  achieve- 
ment that  with  nearly  every  book  published 
an  addition  or  revision  is  called  for  in  the  in- 
terval between  proof-reading  and  binding.  The 
more  ambitious  the  book,  the  more  likely  is  it 
that  this  will  be  applicable.  The  telegraph  and 
the  daily  paper  combine  to  present  a  vast  mass 
of  new  technical  information  to  a  large  and 
ever-increasing  audience,  but  for  the  most  part 
such  information  is  in  so  crude  a  form  as  to.be 
misleading,  and,  to  all  except  a  few  relatively 
well-trained  men,  of  little  or  no  lasting  benefit 
until  it  has  been  digested  and  after  that  corre- 
lated with  existing  digested  information.  Be- 
sides the  crudity  of  the  news  of  the  day,  much 
that  is  essential  to  the  engineer  is  never  dis- 
covered by  the  reports  and  special  correspond- 
ents and  would  not  be  adequately  described  if 
it  were.  This  is  especially  true  of  a  few  of 
the  most  modern  subjects,  such  as  Aerial  Navi- 
gation, Wireless  Communication,  arid  Radio- 


374  ENGINEEEING  LITEEATUEE 

activity,  some  treatises  on  these  subjects  hav- 
ing become  obsolete  in  many  of  their  state- 
ments before  they  are  off  the  press.  It  is  the 
function  of  the  technical  journal  to  gather 
up,  sift,  weigh,  digest,  and,  as  far  as  possible, 
correlate  these  new  ideas,  discoveries,  and  ex- 
periences with  the  information  already  col- 
lected and  classified.  By  doing  this,  a  well- 
edited  weekly  technical  journal  can  to  a  large 
extent,  combine  the  more  solid  newrs  features 
of  a  daily  with  the  accuracy  and  mature  con- 
sideration of  a  monthly,  or  even  of  a  really 
good  encyclopedia,  and  it  is  by  such  means 
and  by  such  alone,  that  it  is  possible  for  any- 
one to  keep  pace  with  modern  achievements. 
Methods  of  Selection  of  Books.  From  this, 
it  will  be  realized  how  difficult  is  the  problem 
of  the  selection  of  technical  books.  The  diffi- 
culty is  minimized  when  the  buyer  can  exam- 
ine the  books  and  form  his  own  judgment,  but 
it  is  more  often  the  case  that  the  buyer  is  not 
so  located  that  he  can  examine  the  books  be- 
fore purchasing.  A  few  engineers  and  some  of 
the  large  engineering  companies  purchase 
every  book  published  touching  the  lines  of 
work  in  which  they  are  actively  interested, 
good  and  bad  alike,  but  the  prices  of  technical 
books  prohibit  this  wholesale  purchase  by  the 
average  engineer  or  contractor.  He  aims  to 
form  as  comprehensive  a  library  as  his  limited 
means  will  allow,  of  the  most  reliable  and  use- 


SELECTION  OF  BOOKS  375 

ful  books  on  his  specialties,  and  must  look 
elsewhere  for  the  balance. 

As  to  the  means  of  selection  open  to  the  en- 
gineer, when  he  cannot  see  the  books  he  usu- 
ally* buys  from  the  advertised  descriptions ;  or 
upon  the  advice  of  the  publisher  or  the  dealer, 
or  from  the  review  notices  published  in  the 
various  technical  journals.  Of  these  means  of 
selection,  the  advice  of  the  dealer  should  be 
placed  foremost,  provided,  that  the  dealer  has 
had  some  experience  with  this  class  of  books 
and  that  his  advice  can  be  relied  upon.  The 
average  local  dealer,  however,  has  only  a 
vague  general  knowledge  of  technical  books. 
He  also  sells  fiction,  general  science,  and  mis- 
cellaneous books,  as  well  as  drugs,  fancy 
goods,  and  stationery,  and  from  the  limited 
extent  of  his  trade  in  technical  books,  he  can- 
not, as  a  rule,  command  the  special  knowledge 
that  is  necessary  to  give  the  best  advice.  The 
advice  of  the  publisher  is  always  worthy  of 
consideration,  but  it  should  be  remembered 
that  most  publishers  are  chiefly  concerned  in 
the  sale  of  their  own  publications,  and  that 
some,  in  fact,  do  not  sell  the  publications  of 
other  houses  at  all.  It  is  well,  therefore,  to 
take  the  advice  of  either  the  publisher  or  the 
dealer  only  in  conjunction  with  the  buyer's 
own  judgment  formed  from  the  periodical  re- 
views of  the  book. 

The   catalogues   and   advertisements   of  the 


376  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

publishers  are  the  most  available  and  common 
means  of  selection.  There  are,  of  course,  vari- 
ous kinds  of  publishers,  from  the  factory  that 
turns  out  'hack'  literature,  to  the  one  whose 
name  is  a  guarantee  of  authority,  but  even  the 
high-class  publisher  may  occasionally  make  an 
error,  and  through  a  mistaken  judgment,  issue 
a  book  that  later  proves  unreliable.  Such  a 
book,  based  on  wrong  theories,  or  containing 
misleading  facts,  formulas,  or  tables,  is  a 
source  of  danger,  especially  in  the  hands  of  an 
inexperienced  man,  and  may  lead  to  most  se- 
rious results.  It  also  brings  considerable  finan- 
cial loss  to  the  publisher. 

Occasionally  pamphlets  are  issued  contain- 
ing *  Lists  of  Recommended  Books,'  but  much 
depends  on  who  made  the  lists  and  for  what 
purpose  they  were  made.  The  list  issued  sev- 
eral years  ago  by  the  Society  for  the  Promo- 
tion of  Engineering  Education  served  a  good 
purpose  but  in  time  lost  its  usefulness;  this 
has  now  been  revised  and  while  it  still  has  de- 
fects, it  is  one  of  the  best  guides  available. 

Some  valuable  lists  have  been  issued  by  the 
Library  of  the  Pratt  Institute  of  Brooklyn, 
and  by  the  Carnegie  Library  of  Pittsburg,  and 
good  work  has  also  been  done  by  the  American 
Library  Association  in  its  Booklist.  In  1909, 
the  writer  compiled  for  the  Engineering  News 
book  department  two  pamphlets,  one  on  the 
literature  of  Cement  and  Concrete  and  one 


SELECTION  OF  BOOKS  377 

on  Roads  and  Pavements.  These  were  not  is- 
sued as  'recommended  lists'  of  the  books,  but 
merely. as  descriptions,  and  entirely  as  a  mat- 
ter of  business — to  answer  inquiries  for  in- 
formation and  to  sell  the  inquirer  the  books 
he  wanted.  The  books  were  not  criticised,  but 
sufficient  descriptive  matter  regarding  each 
was  given  to  enable  a  buyer  to  make  a  selec- 
tion of  those  best  suited  to  meet  his  special 
requirements.  Such  descriptive  bibliographies 
on  various  technical  subjects  would,  no  doubt, 
form  a  useful  series,  but  they  are  difficult  and 
expensive  to  compile,  and  as  an  advertising 
investment,  would  not  repay  the  cost  to  the 
publisher. 

The  periodical  book  review  has  already  been 
discussed.  As  a  summary,  it  may  be  said  that 
book  reviews  do  not  receive  in  many  publica- 
tions the  attention  they  deserve.  They  are 
often  carelessly  and  hurriedly  written  by  those 
who  have  little,  if  any,  special  knowledge  of 
the  subjects,  and  too  frequently  they  are  writ- 
ten to  fill  a  space  of  certain  dimensions.  One 
way  of  writing  a  review  is  to  mention  the  num- 
ber of  pages,  give  dimensions  of  the  book  in 
inches,  quote  the  titles  of  paragraphs  or  chap- 
ters, and  state  the  purpose  of  the  book  accord- 
ing to  the  author's  own  prefatory  remarks. 
Another  way  is  to  use  more  or  less  in  its  en- 
tirety, the  printed  write-up  sent  out  by  the 
publisher.  Some  periodicals,  do,  however,  re- 


378  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

view  books  fairly  and  intelligently,  and  the 
criticism  of  such  periodicals  is  the  best  pos- 
sible guide  for  the  engineer  in  his  selections. 
Valuable  and  impartial  information  may  some- 
times be  obtained  by  students  from  their  pro- 
fessors, or  by  engineers  in  general  from  such 
libraries  as  give  attention  to  this  class  of  lit- 
erature. Among  these  are  the  two  libraries 
already  mentioned  and  the  Public  Library  of 
the  District  of  Columbia. 

Selection  of  Technical  Periodicals.  The  mod- 
ern engineering  journal  is  a  development,  re- 
sulting from  the  ever-expanding  range  of  en- 
gineering activity  and  basing  its  existence  on 
the  interdependence  of  the  various  branches  of 
the  engineering  profession.  There  are  many 
kinds  of  technical  periodicals  just  as  there  are 
of  books.  Unfortunately  an  energetic  circu- 
lation and  advertising  policy  can  often  make 
a  profitable  enterprise  of  an  editorially  worth- 
less sheet;  with  an  investment  of  a  dollar  for 
shears  and  a  pot  of  paste,  a  subscription  to  a 
press-clipping  bureau,  and  a  miscellaneous  as- 
sortment of  exchanges,  it  requires  only  a 
cheap  'editor'  to  produce  a  very  interesting 
periodical.  But  while  there  may  be  journals 
made  up  in  this  way  of  a  hotch-potch  of  clip- 
pings, every  technical  journal  of  standing  aims 
to  perform  a  useful  service  to  the  profession 
and  every  progressive  engineer  must  include 


SELECTION  OF  PEEIODICALS  379 

one  or  more  such  journals  in  his  regular  read- 
ing. These  journals,  on  account  of  their  unend- 
ing presentation  of  new  information  may, 
even  more  than  a  library  of  books,  be  consid- 
ered as  an  educational  institution,  but  this 
must  not  be  taken  to  mean  that  the  reading  of 
the  technical  press  can  be  considered  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  a  college  training. 

The  mass  of  current  periodic  literature  offers 
the  engineer  a  difficult  problem  in  searching 
out  those  things  that  he  wants  and  needs  in 
his  special  line  of  work;  first  a  problem  of 
what  kind  of  material  he  needs  most  and  sec- 
ond, of  what  periodicals  will  give  him  the 
greatest  amount  of  such  information.  His  se- 
lection must  be  based  on  the  field  and  policy  of 
a  journal  as  shown  by  its  literary  material. 
The  question  then  arises:  By  what  standard 
shall  he  judge  this  material?  He  would  first 
decide  upon  the  extent  of  the  field  he  wishes 
to  cover.  So  also  should  a  public  library.  If 
it  is  located  in  a  manufacturing  town,  it  would 
be  poor  policy  to  spend  too  much  of  its  appro- 
priation on  mining  engineering  papers;  if  it 
is  in  a  mining  district,  it  would  be  equally 
inappropriate  to  spend  much  on  purely  man- 
ufacturing or  mechanical  engineering  papers. 
Thus,  local  and  special  requirements  are  eas- 
ily decided  upon,  but  in  that  field  there  may 
be  a  dozen  or  more  periodicals ;  all  are  willing 


3«0  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

to  take  a  portion  of  the  engineer's  money,, 
and  according  to  their  advertising  matter,  he 
needs  them  all. 

Again  the  question  arises  as  to  a  standard 
of  judgment.  The  question  is  a  difficult  one, 
as  methods  of  judging  engineering  literature 
have  not  yet  been  standardized,  and  each  man 
must  decide  the  question  according  to  his  own 
needs.  With  the  editor  of  a  large  journal 
it  is  a  very  practical  and  every-day  problem. 
He  is  called  upon  to  pass  an  opinion  on  pa- 
pers, letters,  and  discussions  on  a  vast  va- 
riety of  engineering  topics,  and  must  adopt 
some  standard  of  usefulness  to  the  readers 
of  his  journal.  A  paper  is  not  useful  unless 
it  tells  something  that  helps  the  man  in  the 
field,  in  the  shop,  or  in  the  office.  This  stand- 
ard appears  simple  and  self-evident,  but  if  one 
could  make  a  critical  analysis  of  current  en- 
gineering literature,  measuring  it  all  by  such 
a  standard,  he  would  be  surprised  to  find  what 
a  large  portion  of  the  space  in  some  journals 
and  society  transactions  is  taken  up  with  ma- 
terial that  nobody  ever  used  and  nobody  ever 
will  or  could  use.  This  is  illustrated  in  the 
purely  descriptive  articles  and  the  trade  write- 
up,  already  discussed,  and  in  such  vague  the- 
oretical discussions  and  records  of  experi- 
mental research  that  wander  so  far  away  from 
the  practical  worker  that  he  can  never  make 
any  use  of  the  results.  Mathematical  theories 


SELECTION  OF  PERIODICALS  381 

may  be  interesting  to  retired  engineers  who 
have  time  to  theorize,  but  they  are  few;  pages 
of  purely  descriptive  matter  may  be  interest- 
ing and  entertaining,  but  such  matter  is  of 
little  technical  value;  the  write-up  article  may 
flatter  an  advertiser,  and  incidentally  bring  a 
little  money  to  the  publisher  who  uses  it,  but 
it  is  not  useful  to  the  man  in  the  field,  in  the 
shop,  or  in  the  office. 

It  is  of  course,  difficult,  if  not  impossible  to 
draw  a  line  through  the  various  engineering 
specialties  and  to  indicate  on  which  side  of 
this  line  any  given  periodical  stands;  and  it  is 
also  difficult  as  well  as  inadvisable,  to  elimi- 
nate all  general  matters,  for,  as  already  stated 
on  page  66,  a  representative  journal  of  the  en- 
gineering profession  should  endeavor  to  help 
the  engineer  to  a  larger  outlook  on  the  general 
affairs  of  the  world.  But  the  ultimate  stand- 
ard of  value  of  a  periodical  lies  in  its  practical 
usefulness  to  its  readers  and  the  occasional  ar- 
ticle of  merely  general  interest  should  not  be 
considered  as  too  important  in  the  adoption  of 
a  standard  of  judgment.  If  the  engineer  forms 
a  standard  of  his  own  practical  needs  and  ad- 
heres to  that  in  his  analysis  and  selection  of  en- 
gineering literature,  he  cannot  go  far  wrong. 

Quantity  offers  as  much  difficulty  to  the  en- 
gineer in  selection  of  his  reading  as  quality. 
No  man  would  attempt  to  read  everything  in 
the  newspapers ;  he  could  not  do  it,  and  for  his 


382  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

benefit,  there  exists  a  business  known  as  *  press- 
clipping' — the  'press-clipping  bureau'  reads 
thousands  of  papers  of  all  kinds  from  all  parts 
of  the  world,  clips  out,  and  supplies  to  its  sub- 
scribers, everything  on  any  special  subjects 
they  may  be  interested  in.  Neither  could  any 
man  read  all  the  articles  on  politics,  art,  travel, 
music,  etc.,  much  as  he  may  be  interested  in 
these  subjects;  for  his  benefit  are  published 
such  reviews  as  the  'Literary  Digest,'  'Review 
of  Reviews,'  and  'Current  Literature.'  Sim- 
ilarly no  man  could  read  all  the  periodic  lit- 
erature on  any  one  branch  of  engineering,  and 
still  have  time  for  active  practice.  The  en- 
gineer requires  a  wide  range  of  information  in 
his  active  work,  and  he  wants  to  keep  in  touch 
with  everything  that  is  published  affecting 
his  interests,  even  indirectly.  Only  by  keep- 
ing up  with  the  times  and  knowing  in  a  gen- 
eral way,  what  is  going  on  in  the  engineering 
world,  can  the  engineer  keep  up  his  efficiency. 
But  such  material  may  be  published  in  any  one 
of  a  hundred  or  more  periodicals,  and  only  the 
largest  libraries  could  attempt  to  keep  them 
all  on  file.  To  meet  such  a  condition  there 
are  issued  several  more  or  less  comprehensive 
indexes,  such  as  the  'Technical  Press  Index' 
(see  list  on  page  405),  and  with  such  an  index 
and  two  or  three  of  the  best  periodicals  along 
the  lines  of  his  special  interests,  selected  on  a 
basis  of  quality,  an  engineer  with  a  small  in- 


GOVERNMENT  PUBLICATIONS  383 

come  can  obtain  a  good  service  of  periodicals 
at  a  very  low  cost. 

But  while  books,  periodicals,  and  society 
proceedings  constitute  the  most  useful  and 
necessary  forms  of  literature  for  engineers, 
they  do  not,  by  any  means,  cover  the  whole 
field.  There  are  not  only  vast  quantities  of 
new  books  and  hundreds  of  weekly  and 
monthly  periodicals  being  poured  out  by  the 
various  publishing  houses  and  technical  socie- 
ties, but  there  are  also  thousands  of  publica- 
tions being  issued  annually  by  manufacturing 
concerns  and  by  the  Government.  Many  of 
these  trade  publications  contain  matter  of 
practical  value  to  engineers,  which  cannot  be 
found  elsewhere  in  technical  literature,  and 
the  engineer  who  does  not  aim  to  keep  a  prop- 
erly cared-for  file  of  current  catalogues  in  con- 
nection with  his  specialties  is  likely  to  be  mor- 
tified by  finding  himself  ignorant  of  some  tech- 
nical matter  which  the  commercial  man  will 
have  at  his  fingers'  ends. 

Government  Publications  and  How  They 
May  be  Obtained.*  There  are  no  doubt  many 
people  who  do  not  realize  that  the  United 
States  Government  has  at  Washington  in  the 
Government  Printing  Office  one  of  the  larg- 
est printing  and  publishing  establishments  in 
the  world.  Still  less  is  it  generally  known  that 

^Abstracted    from    "Engineering    News,"    July    18, 
1907. 


384  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

it  is  constantly  bringing  out  valuable  scien- 
tific works  compiled  by  experts  and  specialists 
in  every  department  of  science,  in  the  direct 
employ  of  the  Government  and  out  of  it.  The 
law  provides  that  all  of  these  publications  be 
obtainable  by  anyone  free  or  at  the  actual  cost 
of  printing  and  binding,  if  they  are  not  out  of 
print.  The  only  difficulty  is  to  know  to  whom 
to  apply  for  information  concerning  them. 

Previous  to  1892,  the  system  was  in  general 
confusion  and  it  was  possible  to  obtain  any 
book  direct  from  the  department  publishing 
it,  simply  on  request.  But  by  the  general  print- 
ing act  of  that  year  the  office  of  Superin- 
tendent of  Documents  was  created  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Government  Printing  Office  and 
since  that  time  the  distribution  of  Govern- 
ment documents  has  become  very  much  more 
systematized. 

This  office  has  become  the  depository  for  a 
valuable  collection  of  Government  publica- 
tions, dating  back  to  the  early  days  of  the 
republic.  The  total  number  of  volumes  under 
its  care  now  numbers  several  millions,  of 
which  close  to  a  million  are  assorted,  forming 
the  sales  stock,  and  covering  nearly  every  im- 
portant department,  bureau,  and  series.  Many 
rare  books  are  included,  but  according  to  the 
law  all  must  be  sold  'at  cost,'  regardless  of 


GOVEENMENT  PUBLICATIONS  385 

their  age  and  scarcity.  Of  many  of  the  most 
valuable  works  only  one  or  two  copies  remain. 

It  is  the  policy  of  the  office  to  facilitate 
as  far  as  possible  the  distribution  of  the  pub- 
lications prepared  at  great  expense  by  the 
Government.  For  this  reason,  the  Superin- 
tendent of  Documents  will  upon  request  fur- 
nish any  information  regarding  public  docu- 
ments, as  to  how  and  where  they  may  be  ob- 
tained and,  if  they  are  on  sale,  at  what  price. 
In  answering  such  inquiries  great  care  is  taken 
to  supply  full  and  accurate  information. 

The  office  is  intended  as  a  great  clearing 
house  for  Government  publications.  It  car- 
ries on  an  enormous  exchange  business  with 
libraries  and  educational  institutions  and  in 
this  way,  hundreds  of  libraries  have  been  sup- 
plied with  publications  greatly  needed  in  their 
respective  localities  in  exchange  for  those 
which  are  either  duplicates  or  of  no  service  to 
them. 

There  are  a  few  very  simple  restrictions  in 
the  purchase  of  documents.  The  office  supplies 
no  documents  free  of  charge  nor  can  they  be 
forwarded  in  advance  of  payment.  Money 
must  be  sent  by  money  postal  order,  express 
order,  or  New  York  draft;  stamps  and  uncer^ 
tified  checks  are  not  received.  As  has  been 
said,  the  Superintendent  of  Documents  can 
supply  information  regarding  all  Government 
documents,  and  can  furnish  all  such  as  are 


386  ENGINEEEING  LITEKATURE 

in  his  care.  Some,  however,  are  distributed 
direct  by  the  departments,  and  in  such  cases, 
with  some  exceptions,  can  be  obtained  free. 
Each  department  issues  gratis  a  price  list  of 
its  publications,  which  can  be  obtained  upon 
application. 

To  particularize:  The  Geological  Survey 
probably  publishes  more  matter  of  interest 
to  the  engineering  world  than  any  other  de- 
partment of  the  Government.  Most  of  its 
larger  publications,  such  as  the  annual  reports, 
monographs,  water  supply  and  irrigation  pa- 
pers, reports  on  mineral  resources,  etc.,  are 
distributed  through  the  office  of  the  Superin- 
tendent of  Documents.  All  the  publications  of 
the  Survey,  except  monographs,  atlases,  and 
atlas  sheets  may  be  obtained  free  of  cost  by 
writing  to  the  Director  of  the  Geological  Sur- 
vey. The  free  publications  include  the  useful 
series  known  as  'Water  Supply  and  Irrigation' 
papers.  The  geologic  folios,  of  which  many 
have  been  prepared,  embracing  sections  from 
many  states  of  the  Union,  are  on  sale  by  the 
Director  of  the  Survey,  at  prices  ranging  from 
the  standard  price  of  25  cents  up  to  $11  each, 
with  discounts  on  large  orders.  In  the  same 
way,  the  topographical  sheets  which  are  pre- 
pared in  connection  with  the  folios  and  as  a 
basis  for  them,  are  sold  at  the  rate  of  5  cents 
each,  or  $3  per  hundred  sheets. 

All  publications  of  the  Department  of  Ag- 


BEADING  OF  PERIODICALS  387 

riculture  and  of  the  Smithsonian  Institute  are 
supplied  through  the  Superintendent  of  Docu- 
ments; the  Weather  Bureau,  the  Bureau  of 
American  Republics,  and  the  Office  of  Public 
Roads  sell  their  own  publications.  Those  of 
the  Navy  Department,  Department  of  Com- 
merce and  Labor,  and  the  Civil  Service  Com- 
mission are  supplied  free  on  application. 

No  general  catalogue  of  U.  S.  Public  Docu- 
ments exists,  but  the  Superintendent  of  Docu- 
ments has  within  the  last  few  years  issued  a 
monthly  catalogue  of  documents  published  dur- 
ing each  month,  both  those  under  his  own 
charge  and  those  distributed  by  the  separate 
departments.  This  can  be  obtained  at  the  an- 
nual subscription  price  of  $1.10.  and  is  of  great 
assistance  in  keeping  up  with  Government 
publications.  Separate  price-lists  on  special 
subjects  are  also  prepared  from  time  to  time 
and  are  free. 

It  is  frequently  possible  also,  for  one  to  ob- 
tain documents,  especially  current  Congres- 
sional documents,  free  on  application  to  his 
Senator  or  Congressman,  as  the  law  allots  to 
each  a  certain  number  of  copies  of  each  docu- 
ment as  it  appears. 

READING    AND    JUDGMENT    OF    ENGINEERING 
,  LITERATURE 

essary  to  the  successful  practice  of  engineering 
Periodicals.    That  extensive  reading  is  nee- 


388  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

is  acknowledged,  but  right  and  wrong  habits 
of  reading  can  as  readily  be  formed  in  connec- 
tion with  engineering  literature  as  with  news- 
papers and  fiction.  The  question  of  how  a 
reader  may  make  best  use  of  current  engineer- 
ing literature,  was  discussed  in  an  editorial  in 
'Engineering  News'  (Nov.  17,  1910),  in  which 
the  writer  points  out  the  necessity  for  the  en- 
gineer of  to-day  to  be  able  to  find  in  his  pub- 
lished literature  the  knowledge  he  requires 
and  to  be  able  to  read  such  literature  under- 
standingly  and  to  form  a  correct  judgment 
as  to  its  reliability  and  its  bearing  on  his  own 
problems.  It  is  the  acquirement  of  this  abil- 
ity that  gives  the  college-trained  engineer  a 
large  advantage  over  many  of  the  engineers 
who  have  learned  their  profession  in  the  school 
of  practical  experience. 

In  his  reading  of  the  current  periodicals  and 
publications  of  societies,  the  engineer  can  find 
some  encouragement  in  the  fact  that  much 
which  is  printed  is  not  of  permanent  value 
and  may  be  merely  glanced  at  or  passed  over 
entirely.  Further,  much  of  the  data  soon  finds 
its  way  into  published  text-books  and  the  en- 
gineer will  do  well  to  follow  these.  But  the 
text-books  are  usually  from  one  to  five  years 
behind  the  state  of  the  art  which  they  profess 
to  cover;  moreover,  there  is  considerable  mat- 
ter in  the  periodicals  which  is  omitted  or  over- 
looked by  the  text-book  writers,  so  it  is  not  a 


BEADING  OF  PEBIODICALS  389 

safe  plan  to  rely  on  these  books  alone.  An 
engineer  should  know,  first,  how  to  quickly 
turn  to  his  own  reference  library  for  informa- 
tion on.  any  particular  subject,  and  second, 
how  to  search  in  larger  libraries  for  data 
which  his  own  library  may  not  contain.  In 
other  words,  he  should  first  have  his  own  ref- 
erence library  indexed,  and  second  he  should 
know  how  to  use  the  published  indexes  to 
engineering  literature  in  general,  such  as  those 
listed  on  page  405. 

The  latter  task  has  already  been  referred 
to;  here  we  will  speak  of  the  first  —  keeping 
one's-  own  card  index  to  the  special  articles 
most  likely  to  be  of  direct  use,  and  to  the 
books,  reports,  or  other  publications  which  one 
may  notice  from  time  to  time  as  especially 
desirable  for  reference.  Not  only  is  this  card 
index,  properly  kept,  a  most  useful  tool,  but 
the  work  of  keeping  the  index  is  a  most  bene- 
ficial exercise  to  a  young  engineer  in  cultivat- 
ing system  in  his  professional  reading  and  a 
critical  faculty  in  his  study  of  engineering 
papers. 

In  reading  any  publication,  find  the  articles 
of  most  use  and  read  them  thoroughly.  Then 
fill  up  one  or  more  reference  cards  to  each 
article;  a  few  moments  thus  spent  may  save 
as  many  hours  of  fruitless  search  for  informa- 
tion whose  location  has  been  forgotten.  File 
the  cards  systematically  under  such  headings 


390  ENGINEEEING   LITERATURE 

as  may  seem  most  fit.  Each  card  should,  of 
course,  show  the  subject  of  the  article;  the 
author's  name,  with  notes  as  to  whether  illus- 
trated or  not;  the  approximate  length;  the 
name  of  the  book  or  paper,  and  the  page  num- 
ber and  date  of  issue.  It  will  save  much  time 
to  have  the  index  cards  printed,  with  blanks 
for  these  several  items,  to  economize  time  in 
filling  out  the  cards. 

Do  not  attempt  too  elaborate  a  classification. 
Where  the  index  is  primarily  for  one's  own 
use,  many  short-cuts  and  time-saving  abbrevi- 
ations are  allowable.  It  will  not  generally  be 
necessary  to  make  more  than  one  card  for  an 
article,  if  the  article  is  classified  under  the 
subject  through  which  it  appeals  most,  and 
which  is  most  likely  to  be  thought  of  in  connec- 
tion with  it.  Do  not  try  to  index  too  many  arti- 
cles ;  choose  those  in  the  fields  of  special  in- 
terest and  those  which  contain  matter  of  per- 
manent value.  Cultivate  the  habit  of  critical 
analysis  of  engineering  literature;  such  analy- 
sis will  be  a  mental  tonic.  One  should  not  be 
discouraged  if  his  index  grows  slowly,  pro- 
vided it  grows  steadily;  some  day  it  will  form 
a  valuable  business  asset.  Do  not  confine  the 
indexing  to  articles  in  periodicals  and  society 
publications;  note  should  be  made  of  any  im- 
portant book,  or  the  review  of  such  a  book,  or 
perhaps  of  a  particular  chapter  in  a  book. 

It  is  often  best  to  index  an  article  under 


BEADING  OF  PERIODICALS  391 

some  other  head  than  its  title,  for  the  title  13 
often  chosen  rather  to  attract  the  reader's  at- 
tention than  to  accurately  show  what  the  arti- 
cle is  about.  All  items  should  receive  atten- 
tion; sometimes  a  paragraph  or  two  in  the 
editorial  columns  or  in  letters  conveys  more 
important  information  than  an  article  of  sev- 
eral pages  devoted  to  description. 

All  papers  should  be  indexed,  for  even  if 
a  reader  cannot  file  the  copies  of  all  those  to 
which  he  subscribes  he  can  perhaps  refer  to  the 
bound  volumes  of  some  engineering  reference 
library.  Some  engineers  cut  out  articles  on 
certain  subjects  and  file  them  on  some  system 
or  other,  which  may  serve  well  for  a  limited 
range  of  subjects,  but  such  files  rapidly  grow 
bulky  if  too  much  is  attempted.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  any  such  file  of  clippings,  and 
the  card  index  should  be  supplementary  to 
the  published  indexes  of  the  journal.  The 
reader  should  rely  on  the  published  indexes  for 
general  access  to  both  private  and  public  li- 
braries ;  and  keep  the  individual  index  for  mat- 
ter of  such  special  interest  as  must  be  covered 
in  greater  detail  than  is  possible  in  the  pub- 
lished indexes. 

It  is  probable  that  most  of  the  subscribers 
of  technical  periodicals  preserve  and  bind  their 
copies,  at  least  of  their  most  helpful  journals. 
Perhaps  if  a  man  were  absolutely  sure  he 
would  follow  a  particular  specialty  all  his  life 


392  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

long  and  would  never  have  need  for  informa- 
tion on  any  other  department  of  engineering 
work,  the  clipping  out  and  filing  of  articles 
would  be  a  good  course  to  pursue;  but  very 
few  engineers  can  map  out  their  future  in 
that  way.  Some  years  ago,  for  example,  thou- 
sands of  engineers  were  devoting  all  their  at- 
tention to  steam  railway  construction.  Today 
nine-tenths  of  them  are  in  other  fields  of  en- 
gineering work,  as  reinforced  concrete,  hydro- 
electric development,  electricity,  etc.,  and  it 
is  quite  safe  to  say  that  those  fared  the  best 
in  making  the  change  who  were  best  equipped 
for  these  other  lines  of  work  and  who  had  kept 
in  touch  with  them  as  far  as  possible  during 
their  work  on  railway  construction.  It  is  well, 
therefore,  that  readers,  in  their  own  interests, 
preserve  and  bind  their  copies.  The  time  will 
surely  come  when  the  information  they  can 
find  in  those  pages,  on  other  departments  of 
engineering  than  that  on  which  they  may  be 
at  any  one  time  engaged,  will  be  of  the  great- 
est value  to  them. 

How  to  Read  Books.  In  the  multitude  of 
books  written  for  technical  men,  some  are  so 
poorly  written  and  so  useless  in  their  material 
that  they  are  hardly  worthy  of  consideration 
at  all;  others,  on  account  of  incompleteness, 
have  but  a  limited  usefulness,  and  from  this 
they  range  upward  in  quality  to  the  standard 
and  reliable  treatises.  The  majority  of  these 


HOW  TO  READ  BOOKS  393 

are  expensive  and  as  there  is  no  more  economy 
in  buying  useless  books  than  in  paying  for 
useless  power,  some  method  should  be  used  in 
forming  a  judgment  as  to  whether  or  not  the 
purchase  and  reading  of  a  certain  book  would 
be  money  and  time  well  spent.  It  is  not  well 
to  purchase  books  immediately  on  the  an- 
nouncement of  publication  unless  there  is  such 
need  for  the  work  that  any  information  is 
better  than  none.  If  there  is  no  present  use 
for  the  book,  it  is  better  to  make  a  note  of 
it  from  the  notice  or  advertisement;  later, 
when  the  book  is  needed  or  when  you  have 
time  and  inclination  to  read  it,  buy  it.  In  that 
way  your  library  will  always  contain  the  latest 
editions.  Reviews  of  all  books  on  subjects  of 
interest  should  be  read  and  noted  and  if  the 
opinions  formed  from  the  reviews  be  recorded 
with  the  note,  they  will  later  greatly  assist 
in  judging  as  to  what  books  you  ought  to  buy. 
In  reading  a  technical  book,  or  in  fact,  a 
.book  of  importance  of  any  kind,  it  should  first 
be  looked  over  in  a  general  manner  to  learn 
something  of  its  plan,  scope,  arrangement,  and 
limitations.  For  this  purpose,  first  read  the 
Preface  and  Table  of  Contents,  then  go  through 
it,  reading  the  captions,  or  sub-heads,  and 
noting  how  fully  each  topic  is  treated.  This 
will  not  only  better  fit  you  to  give  the  book 
its  first  reading,  but  will  make  easier  the  fur- 
ther reading  of  it,  as  well  as  the  understand- 


394  ENGINEEKING  LITEKATUKE 

ing  of  what  the  author  aims  to  teach.  In  a 
complete  and  thorough  reading  it  is  well  to 
mark  what  is  new,  and  later  review  those 
chapters,  pages,  or  paragraphs,  for  unless  a 
reader  has  a  most  uncommon  and  retentive 
memory,  such  a  review  will  be  necessary  to  ob- 
tain the  greatest  benefit  from  his  study. 

Generally  it  is  a  waste  of  time  to  study  the 
detail  of  mathematical  problems  for  which 
there  is  no  present  use,  because  it  is  quite 
likely  that,  by  the  time  you  need  to  apply  them 
to  practical  work,  the  solution  will  be  forgot- 
ten and  the  study  will  have  to  be  repeated.  It 
is  better  to  read  the  mathematical  and  highly 
technical  parts  only  in  a  way  to  get  a  general 
idea  of  the  treatment,  the  scope,  and  the  sound- 
ness of  the  analysis.  When  occasion  comes  to 
use  this  information,  turn  to  it  and  study  it 
in  detail. 

In  reading  a  technical  book  the  object  is  not 
entertainment  or  merely  to  know  the  opinions 
of  the  author,  but  rather  to  improve  one 's  own 
knowledge  of  the  subject  treated,  but  it  is  not 
necessary  for  the  reader,  especially  if  he  al- 
ready knows  much  about  the  subject,  to  adopt 
any  particular  writer's  opinions  as  absolutely 
correct.  He  should,  from  his  own  experience, 
consider  whether  the  opinions  expressed  are 
right  or  not,  and  to  that  end  he  would  do  well 
to  compare  them  with  his  own  by  noting  either 
in  the  margin  of  the  book  or  in  a  note  book, 


HOW  TO  READ  BOOKS  395 

his  criticisms  of  faults  or  defects,  and  com- 
ments on  points  of  difference  in  practice.  For 
instance,  where  the  treatment  is  confused  and 
obscure,  systematize  and  improve  it ;  where 
it  is  imperfect,  supply  the  deficiencies ;  where 
it  is  too  brief  and  concise,  amplify  a  little; 
where  it  is  redundant,  eliminate  and  condense ; 
where  important  statements  are  quoted,  ob- 
serve the  sources  of  authority;  where  there  is 
argument,  note  whether  it  is  consistent;  if  the 
conclusion  be  true,  but  the  argument  weak, 
confirm  it  by  stronger  proofs;  where  proposi- 
tions are  inferred,  look  for  the  justice  of  the 
inferences;  where  you  suppose  a  mistake  is 
made,  consider  your  own  objections,  prove  the 
error  and  correct  it;  what  you  approve  of  as 
well  written,  correct,  and  useful  information, 
secure  in  your  memory  or  note  it  where  it  will 
be  accessible  when  wanted. 

If  the  method  of  treatment  be  irregular,  re- 
duce it  into  form  by  a  brief  analysis  of  your 
own;  if  things  are  heaped  together  which 
should  be  separated,  distinguish  and  separate 
them  by  your  own  reference  system ;  if  items  re- 
lating to  the  same  subject  are  too  much  scat- 
tered throughout  the  treatise,  bring  them  to- 
gether by  references ;  if  the  book  has  no  index, 
or  a  good  table  of  contents,  make  one  as  you  are 
reading  it,  not  necessarily  as  complete  and 
exact  as  if  it  was  designed  to  be  printed,  but 
noting  all  those  parts  which  are  new  to  you, 


396  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

or  which  you  think  you  may  have  further  use 
for.  If  certain  portions  of  the  book  are  spe- 
cially valuable,  they  may  be  reconstructed  or 
abridged  into  a  lesser  form,  for  your  own 
personal  use.  If  the  writer  of  the  book  be 
known  for  any  peculiar  excellencies  or  defects 
in  his  style  or  manner  of  writing,  observe  this 
also,  and  mark  any  new  words,  idioms,  or  un- 
usual expressions  that  may  occur  in  his  lan- 
guage. 

All  this  work  will  tend  to  cultivate  habits 
of  methodical  study,  to  improve  the  reader's 
judgment  in  general,  and  to  give  him  a  more 
complete  knowledge  of  that  subject  in  particu- 
lar; and  in  later  years  after  he  has  studied  a 
few  valuable  books  on  any  special  subject  in 
this  manner,  it  will  be  easy  to  read  others, 
because  he  will  find  less  and  less  new  matter 
in  them.  It  will  also  help  in  improving  his 
powers  of  expression  by  extending  his  com- 
mand and  understanding  of  technical  terms. 
One  good  book  read  over  in  this  manner,  with" 
all  the  laborious  thought  and  writing  involved, 
will  add  more  to  the  reader's  solid  knowledge 
than  the  skimming  over  the  surface  of  a  whole 
library  of  books.  A  man  may  read  voluminous- 
ly and  with  diligence,  and  may  find  much 
pleasure  in  his  reading,  just  as  he  might  in 
hearing  a  story  told,  but  still  fail  to  advance 
in  learning,  because  his  reading  leaves  no  im- 
pression on  his  mind.  If  he  makes  no  observa- 


JUDGMENT  OF  BOOKS  397 

tions  on  what  he  reads  and  draws  no  inferences 
from  it;  if  he  crams  himself  with  undigested 
formulas  and  facts,  or  if  he  lets  his  eye  merely 
slide  over  the  pages  without  thought,  the  ideas 
will  quickly  slide  out  of  his  mind  and  vanish 
like  the  shadow  of  a  cloud  on  a  summer's 
day.  The  reader  should,  therefore,  enter  into 
and  understand  the  sense  of  what  he  reads, 
and  by  judging  of  its  value  for  himself  from 
the  authorities  and  proofs  presented,  he  will 
rapidly  increase  his  store  of  knowledge,  and 
will  acquire  also  the  habit  of  judging  correctly 
and  of  reasoning  well,  in  imitation  of  the  best 
writers  whose  works  he  studies. 

Judgment  of  Books.  One  should  not  com- 
mence the  reading  of  any  new  book  with  a 
prejudice  either  for  or  against  it  or  with  a 
settled  resolution  to  believe  or  disbelieve,  to 
confirm  or  to  oppose,  what  it  teaches,  but 
should  always  read  with  the  object  of  laying 
the  mind  open  to  new  facts.  It  is  not  the  sub- 
ject which  forms  the  basis  of  judgment  of  a 
book,  but  how  the  writer  treats  that  subject. 
In  considering  a  book  which  we  have  not  seen 
before,  the  first  thing  that  offers  is  the  title 
page,  and  from  this  we  may  sometimes  get  a 
fair  idea  of  the  scope  of  the  work,  though 
most  titles  are  designed  to  attract  attention  to 
the  book  rather  than  to  describe  its  contents. 
The  author's  name,  if  it  be  well  known,  will 
help  in  forming  an  opinion  of  the  general  char- 


398  ENGINEEEING  LITEEATUEE 

acter  of  the  work.  A  perusal  of  the  Preface 
or  the  Introduction  and  of  the  Table  of  Con- 
tents or  Index,  may  further  assist  our  judg- 
ment. The  first  reading  of  the  book,  by  titles 
and  chapters  with  perhaps  several  particular 
chapters  or  sections,  will  show  whether  there 
is  anything  valuable  or  important  in  them; 
whether  the  author  is  clear,  strong,  and 
methodical;  whether  he  is  obscure  and  con- 
fused; and  finally,  whether  the  matter  itself 
may  be  solid  and  substantial,  though  the  style 
and  arrangement  may  not  be  good. 

From  this  cursory  examination,  we  can  gen- 
erally judge  whether  the  treatise  is  worth  a 
complete  perusal  or  not.  But  if  such  a  survey 
is  wholly  unsatisfactory  we  may  as  well  lay 
aside  the  book  at  once,  for  there  is  a  great 
probability  that  it  is  of  a  very  indifferent  char- 
acter, and  life  is  too  short  and  time  too  pre- 
cious to  read  any  new  book  thoroughly,  only 
to  find  that  it  is  really  not  worth  reading  at 
all. 

In  passing  judgment  on  books  there  are  a  few 
general  mistakes  which  persons  are  frequently 
guilty  of.  One  is  the  passing  of  a  favorable 
judgment  on  a  treatise  which  agrees  with  their 
own  principles  and  supports  their  own  opin- 
ions, but  which  on  the  whole  may  be  very 
mediocre  and  poorly  written.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  the  writer  teaches  different  opinions 
and  contrary  principles,  such  persons  can  usu- 


JUDGMENT  OF  BOOKS  399 

ally  find  neither  good  sense  nor  good  language 
in  it. 

A  mistake  to  which  young  engineers  espe- 
cially are  liable  to  fall  into  is ;  when  they  read 
a  treatise  on  a  subject  with  which  they  have 
but  a  slight  acquaintance  and  find  almost 
everything  new  to  them  they  commend  the 
book  itself  and  agree  with  the  author  at  once, 
whereas  a  man  better  posted  on  that  subject 
might  find  that  the  author  had  written  poorly, 
that  many  of  his  statements  were  incorrect, 
and  that  the  book  had  nothing  of  real  value 
in  it.  But  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  a  possi- 
bility of  a  mistaken  judgment  on  the  part  of 
the  man  with  an  extensive  knowledge  of  the 
subject.  An  engineer  who  is  a  master  of  a 
particular  specialty,  who  has  studied  and  prac- 
ticed it  long  and  on  all  sides,  might  find  scarce- 
ly any  writer  on  that  subject  who  can  give 
him  any  new  information,  and  on  that  account 
he  may  condemn  a  book,  which  in  its  treatment 
is  sound,  clear,  and  comprehensive. 

Thus  the  student  and  the  engineer,  both 
young  and  old,  may  have  their  several  distinct 
difficulties,  dangers,  and  prejudices  in  their 
judgment  of  the  writings  of  other  men.  Those 
mentioned  are  but  examples,  for  the  prejudices 
that  may  warp  the  judgment,  aside  from  the 
quality  of  the  book  itself,  are  almost  infinite 
and  endless.  For  instance,  one  of  the  greatest 
sources  of  prejudice,  and  one  which,  unfortu- 


400  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

nately,  has  shown  itself  among  technical  men. 
is  a  secret  vanity,  pride,  or  envy,  on  account 
of  which  one  man  may  severely  censure  a  valu- 
able book  written  by  another  man  on  some 
subject  on  which  he  himself  has  written,  or  on 
which  he  considers  himself  an  authority.  Such 
a  writer  may  throw  contempt  by  wholesale 
upon  the  writings  of  others,  basing  his  judg- 
ment on  some  trivial  mistake,  or  on  some  few 
sentiments  or  expressions  of  opinion  not  in 
accord  with  his  own,  or  on  some  slight  blemish 
in  the  method  of  treatment  at  which  he  can 
nibble  and  bark.  But  when  a  book  possesses 
good  qualities,  and  teaches  valuable  lessons, 
these  little  critics  should  not  exalt  themselves 
and  pour  out  a  volume  of  spite  and  ill-nature 
upon  it,  but  rather  stretch  their  powers  of  con- 
sideration until  they  produce  a  work  superior 
to  the  one  which  they  condemn. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  quote 
from  some  of  the  standard  authors,  a  few  short 
passages  regarding  the  use  and  abuse  of  books 
in  general,  which  have  been  selected  as  spe- 
cially adaptable  to  the  class  of  books  under 
present  consideration: 

Frederick  Harrison:  The  longest  life,  the 
greatest  industry,  joined  to  the  jaiost  power- 
ful memory,  would  not  suffice  to  make  us  profit 
from  the  hundredth  part  of  the  world  of  books 
before  us. 

For  myself,  I  am  inclined  to  think  the  most 
useful  help  to  reading  is  to  know  what  we 


USE  OF  BOOKS  401 

should  not  read, /what  we  can  keep  out  from 
that  small  cleared  spot  in  the  overgrown  jungle 
of  *  information,'  the  corner  which  we  can  call 
our  ordered  patch  of  fruit-bearing  knowledge. 

Those  who  are  on  good  terms  with  the  first 
author  they  meet,  run  as  much  risk  as  men 
who  surrender  their  time  to  the  first  passer 
in  the  street;  for  to  be  open  to  every  book  is 
for  the  most  part  to  gain  as  little  as  possible 
from  any.  A  man  aimlessly  wandering  about 
in  a  crowded  city  is  of  all  men  the  most  lonely ; 
so  he  who  takes  up  only  the  books  he  '  comes 
across'  is  pretty  certain  to  meet  but  few  that 
are  worth  knowing. 

When  our  reading,  however  deep,  runs  whol- 
ly into  ' pockets,'  and  exhausts  itself  in  the 
literature  of  one  age,  one  country,  one  type, 
^then  we  may  be  sure  that  it  is  tending  to  nar- 
\row  or  deform  our  minds. 

Thomas  Carlyle:  (We  have  not  read  an 
author  till  we  have  seen  his  object,  whatever 
it  be,  as  he  saw  it. )  Is  it  a  matter  of  reasoning, 
and  has  he  reasoned  stupidly  and  falsely  ?  We 
should  understand  the  circumstances  which,  to 
his  mind,  made  it  seem  true,  or  persuaded  him 
to  write  it,  knowing  that  it  was  not  so. 

I  do  not  know  whether  it  has  been  sufficient- 
ly brought  home  to  you  that  there  are  two 
kinds  of  books.  When  a  man  is  reading  on 
any  subject,  in  any  department  of  literature 
—in  all  books — he  will  find  that  there  is  a  di- 
vision into  good  books  and  bad  books.  Every- 
where a  good  kind  of  book  and  a  bad  kind 
of  book.  I  am  not  to  assume  that  you  are  un- 
acquainted or  ill-acquainted  with  this  plain 
fact ;  but  I  may  remind  you  that  it  is  becoming 
a  very  important  consideration  in  our  day. 


402  ENGINEERING  LITEEATUEE 

Isaac  Disraeli:  To  read  every  book  would 
be  fatal  to  the  interests  of  most  readers,  but 
it  is  not  always  necessary  in  the  pursuits  of 
learning,  to  read  every  book  entire.  Of  many 
books  it  is  sufficient  to  seize  the  plan,  and  to 
examine  some  of  their  portions.  ^Of  the  little 
supplement  at  the  close  of  the  'volume,  few 
readers  conceive  the  utility;  but  some  of  the 
most  eminent  writers  have  been  great  adepts 
in  the  art  of  Index-reading.  1  I,  for  my  part, 
venerate  the  inventor  of  Indexes. 

Ralph  Waldo  Emerson:  The  best  rule  for 
reading  will  be  a  method  from  nature,  and 
not  a  mechanical  one  of  hours  and  pages.  It 
holds  each  student  to  a  pursuit  of  his  native 
aim  instead  of  a  desultory  miscellany.  Let 
him  read  what  is  proper  to  him  and  not  waste 
his  memory  on  a  crowd  of  mediocrities. 

Nature  is  always  our  friend  in  this  matter. 
Nature  is  always  clarifying  her  water  and  her 
wine.  No  nitration  could  be  so  perfect.  She 
does  the  same  thing  by  books  as  by  her  gases 
and  her  plants.  There  is  always  a  selection 
in  writers,  and  then  a  selection  from  the  selec- 
tion, fin  the  first  place,  all  books  that  get 
fairly  into  the  vital  air  of  the  world  were  writ- 
ten by  the  successful  class,  by  the  affirming 
and  advancing  class,  who  utter  what  tens  of 
thousands  feel  but  cannot  say.y  There  has  al- 
ready been  a  scrutiny  and  choice  from  many 
hundreds  of  young  pens  before  the  book  * 
*  *  which  you  read  *  *  *  comes  to 
your  eye. 

Julius  Charles  Hare :  The  difference  between 
desultory  reading  and  a  course  of  study  may 
be  illustrated  by  comparing  the  former  with 


USE  OF  BOOKS  403 

a  number  of  mirrors  set  in  a  straight  line,  so 
that  every  one  of  them  reflects  a  different  ob- 
ject; the  latter  to  the  same  mirrors  so  skil- 
fully arranged  as  to  perpetuate  one  set  of 
objects  in  an  endless  series  of  reflections. 

If  we  read,  two  books  on  the  same  subject, 
the  second  leads  us  to  review  the  statements 
and  arguments  of  the  first ;  the  errors  of  which 
are  little  likely  to  escape  this  kind  of  proving, 
while  the  truths  are  more  strongly  imprinted 
on  the  memory,  not  merely  by  repetition,  but 
by  the  deepened  conviction  thus  wrought  in 
the  mind,  of  their  being  verily  and  indeed 
truths. 

^Desultory  reading  is  indeed  very  mischievous 
in  fostering  habits  of  loose,  discontinuous 
thought,  by  turning  the  memory  into  a  com- 
mon sewer  for  rubbish  of  all  sorts  to  float 
through,  and  by  relaxing  the  power  of  atten- 
tion, which  of  all  our  faculties  needs  most  care, 
and  is  most  improved  by  it.  But  a  well-regu- 
lated course  of  study  will  no  more  weaken 
the  mind  than  hard  exercise  will  weaken  the 
body;  ;nor  will  a  strong  understanding  be 
weighted  down  by  its  knowledge,  any  more 
than  an  oak  by  its  leaves,  or  than  Samson  was 
by  his  locks. 

John  Morley:  I  will  not  take  up  your  time 
by  explaining  the  various  mechanical  contriv- 
ances and  aids  to  successful  study.  They  are 
not  to  be  despised  by  those  who  would  extract 
the  most  from  books.  /TMany  people  think  of 
knowledge  as  of  money.  They  would  like 
knowledge  but  cannot  face  the  perseverance 
and  self-denial  that  go  to  the  acquisition  of  it. 
The  wise  student  will  do  most  of  his  reading 


404  ENGINEERING  LITERATUEE 

with  a  pen  or  pencil  in  his  hand.  He  will  not 
shrink  from  the  useful  toil  of  making  abstracts 
and  summaries  of  what  he  is  reading.  I 

James  Russell  Lowell:  /There  is  a  choice  in 
books  as  there  is  a  choice  in  friends,  and  the 
mind  sinks  or  rises  to  the  level  of  its  habitual 
society,  or  is  subdued  to  what  it  works  in. 

Read  such  books  as  make  us  think,  and  read 
them  in  such  a  way  as  to  help  them  do  so, 
that  is  by  endeavoring  to  judge  them,  and  thus 
to  make  them  an  exercise  rather  than  a  relaxa- 
tion of  mind.  Desultory  reading,  except  as  a 
conscious  pastime,  heb^tStes  the  brain  and 
slackens  the  bow-string  of  will.  It  communi- 
cates as  little  intelligence  as  the  messages  that 
run  along  a  telegraph  wire  do  to  the  birds  that 
perch  on  it.  A  man  is  known  by  the  company 
he  keeps  and  not  only  so,  but  he  is  made  by  it. 


XXII 


LIST  OF  TECHNICAL  INDEXES 

(^ 

American  Journal  of  Science,  m. — 6.00 

"Scientific  Intelligence"  contains  book  reviews  and 
abstracts  of  periodical  literature  and  federal  and  state 
publications,  classified  as  chemistry,  geology,  and  mis- 
cellaneous. 

Amer.  Soc.  of  Civil  Engineers  (Proc.),  m. — 8.00 
"Monthly  List  of  Recent  Engineering  Articles  of 
Interest"  classifies  under  the  main  branches  of  engi- 
neering the  contents  of  about  100  periodicals,  one- 
fifth  of  which  are  French  and  German.  Titles  only 
given.  Illustrations  are  noted  but  neither  length  nor 
value  of  articles  are  given.  Journals  are  referred 
to  by  a  system  of  numbers  instead  of  by  name,  thus 
making  reference  difficult.  Printed  on  one  side  only. 

Chemical  Engineer,  Chicago,  m. — 2.00 

"Index  of  Articles  on  Applied  Chemistry";  indexes 
about  75  journals,  about  one-third  being  foreign. 
Selects  only  articles  of  interest  to  the  chemical 
engineer.  Gives  descriptive  of  evaluative  note  on 
each  article.  Titles  of  articles  in  foreign  languages 
are  translated.  Printed  on  pages  backed  by  adver- 
tisements. 

Electrical  World,  New  York,  m.— 3.00 

"Digest  of  Current  Electrical  Literature"  contains 
good  abstracts  of  important  articles  appearing  in  the 
electrical  periodical  press  of  the  world,  frequently 
several  hundred  words  in  length.  Foreign  articles 
abstracted  in  English. 

Abstracted  from  Monthly  Bulletin  (June,  1910)  of 
the  Carnegie  Library  of  Pittsburgh.  This  list  is  not 
intended  to  be  complete;  it  is  merely  intended  as  a 
guide  to  the  more  important  indexes  and  bibliographies 
of  current  technical  literature,  which  are  of  value  to 
writers  on  engineering  subjects. 
405 


406  ENGINEERING  LITERATURE 

Engineering-Contracting,  Chicago,  w. — 2.0® 

"Monthly  Review  Index  of  Civil  Engineering  Liter- 
ature" classifies  articles  in  about  100  journals,  nearly 
all  in  English.  The  literature  indexed  relates  solely 
to  Civil  Engineering. 

Engineering  Magazine,  New  York,  m. — 3.00 

"Engineering  Index"  indexes  the  contents  of  about 
200  periodicals,  mainly  English,  French,  and  German. 
Gives  length  of  article  and  descriptive  note  and  indi- 
cates illustrations.  Classified  under  Civil,  Electrical, 
Mechanical,  Marine  and  Naval,  and  Railway  Engi- 
neering, Mining  and  Metallurgy,  Industrial  Economy, 
Street  and  Electric  Railways. 

/     Eng'g.  and  Min'g.  Journal,  New  York,  w. — 5.00 

"Mining  Index"  contains  a  classified  bibliography 

of  the  current  literature  of  mining  and  metallurgy, 

giving  author,  length  of  article  and  occasional  brief 

notes. 

Illuminating  Engineer,  New  York,  m. — 2.00 

"Proceedings  of  Technical  Societies"  and  "Review 
of  the  Technical  Press"  gives  reviews  of  books  and  an 
index  with  many  abstracts  of  journal  articles  on  illu- 
mination and  photometry,  electric  lighting,  gas,  oil, 
and  acetylene  lighting. 

Industrial  Engineering  and  The   Engineering 

Digest,  New  York,  m.— 2.00 
"Technical  Press  Index"  indexes  contents  of  170 
American  and  Canadian  and  74  foreign  journals. 
Gives  length  of  article,  number  of  illustrations,  price 
at  which  article  can  be  supplied  and  where  necessary 
n  descriptive  note  summarizing  the  articles.  Classi- 
fied under  Architecture,  Automobiles  and  Aerial  Navi- 
gation, Civil,  Electrical,  Marine,  Mechanical,  Mining, 
Municipal,  and  Railroad  Engineering,  Economics  and 
Education,  Industrial  Technology,  and  Metallurgy; 
each  classification  is  further  subdivided  into  sections. 

Metallurgical  and  Chem.  Eng'g.,  m. — 2.00 

"Synopsis  of  Metallurgical  and  Chemical  Litera- 
ture" gives  lengthy  and  well-prepared  abstracts  of 
selected  articles. 


TECHNICAL  INDEXES  407 

Mining  Science,  Denver,  w. — 3.00 

"Current  Articles  from  the  Technical  Press"  gives 
brief  abstracts  of  selected  articles  on  geology,  min- 
ing, and  metallurgy.  Only  about  20  articles  are  given 
weekly,  and  titles  of  journals  are  very  abbreviated. 
Chief  value  is  in  timeliness. 

Munic.  Journal  and  Engr.,  New  York,  w. — 3.00 
"Municipal  Index,"  appearing  in  second  issue  of 
each  month,  lists  and  classifies  under  a  few  broad 
subjects,  all  articles  treating  of  municipal  topics  ap- 
pearing in  the  leading  periodicals.  Gives  author, 
length  of  article,  and  an  explanatory  note  where  nec- 
essary. Includes  some  books  and  many  municipal 
and  health  board  reports  not  indexed  elsewhere. 


INDEX 

Abbreviations,  editing 129 

Abridgments  and  compilations 171 

Acceptance  of  articles  by  editors 142 

Accuracy  in  statements  in  books 346 

"Addenda"  sheet  in  books 131 

Addresses,  oral,  may  be  copyrighted 182,  199 

Advertising,  professional 10,  57 

Agreement  between  author  and  publisher 218 

Aids  to  literary  work 92 

Air-brush,  use  in  illustrating 241 

Allegory 26 

Alliteration . . . 24 

Anonymous  communications  to  journals 148 

Antithesis .--.•••• 27 

Appropriateness  of  material  in  writing 88 

Arrangement  of  literary  material 86 

Articles,  periodical,  acceptance  and  rejection 142 

aim  in  writing 65 

descriptive 146 

most  useful  to  engineers :.  ......     64 

"write-up" 145 

Author,  defined 169,  181 

notice  in  book  review 351 

relations  with  printer 265 

with  publisher 203 

rights  in  works 164 

Author's  alterations 120,  278 

Authorities,  using  and  crediting 89 

Authorship,  technical 61,  341 

Attention,  how  to  cultivate 100 

"Basket  cloth"  for  book  bindings 258 

Bibliographies 376 

source  of  information 311 

Bindings  of  books 255 

Book  advertisements  and  catalogues 375 

Book,  denned .  169, 180 

literary  features :  .  .    130 

make-up 288 

manufacture 260 

'.  papers • •   247 

review 348,377 

amount  that  may  be  quoted 190 

difficulties  in  writing 344 

use  of  Preface  in  writing 132 

use  of  quotations 171 

409 


410  INDEX 


Books,  appraisement 354 

authorship 341 

choice 402,  404 

compiled 84 

copyright  regulations 178 

criticism  by  readers 340 

defects 80 

deterioration 246 

errors 342 

for  whom  written 345,  369 

how  to   read 392,  403 

importation  restrictions 192 

indexing 324 

judgment 397 

keeping  up  to  date 370 

lettering  on  backs 264 

methods  of  selection 374 

protection  of  titles    . 169 

quantity.  , 366 

sizes 134 

submission  of  manuscript 206, 209 

use  and  misuse,  quotations  from  authors 400 

variety 367, 401 

what  study  involves 366 

what  they  should  cover 347 

Box  heads 127 

Brevity,  importance  in  technical  literature 49 

Buckram  bindings 257 

Cancellations  in  manuscript ' 122 

Capitals,  marking  in  manuscript 123 

Card  index,  advantages  and  uses 296 

private 389 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  regarding  books 401 

Catalogue  of  Government  publications 387 

Catalogues,  filing  system 318 

variations  in  sizes .319,  321 

Chapter  titles,  various  styles 127 

Chemical  terms,  simplified 34 

Classics,  value  of  reading 55 

Classification,  Dewey  decimal  system ~. .  331 

system  for  library 308 

trade  publications. 312 

Clearness  in  expression 24 

in  statements  in  books 346 

Climax  .  ...  25 


INDEX  411 

Cloth  bindings  for  books 256 

Cohesion  in  arrangement 89 

Collecting  literary  material 82 

Commercial  success,  knowledge  necessary 58 

Common  work,  descriptive  articles 73 

Compilation  of  literary  works 171,  341 

Compiled  works,  copyright  protection 168 

Component  parts  of  book,  copyright  protection.  .  179,  180 

Composition,  cost  of  errors 120 

measurement 269 

Condensation  of  material 136 

Construction  details,  descriptive  articles 72 

observation 85 

Constructive  rhetoric 22 

Contempt  of  court 227 

Contents  of  book 131 

notice  in  book  review 353 

Contract  for  publishing 218 

Contracts,  accuracy  in  writing 11 

Contrast 27 

Contributions  to  periodicals 63,  66,  142 

Conversation,  ordinary,  form  of  rhetoric 22 

Conviction,  a  feature  of  rhetoric 20 

Copy-holder,  in  reading  proof 283 

Copyright 166, 178 

ad  interim  protection  for  foreign  books 188 

affidavit  of  American  manufacture 185 

application  forms 199 

assignment '. 194 

"author"  and  "proprietor" 181 

books,  copies  must  be  identical 180 

certificate 195 

compiled  works 168 

component  works 179 

"date  of  publication" 186 

deposit  of  copies  of  work 183 

drawings 182,  199 

duration  and  extension  of  term 189 

fees 196, 199 

Great  Britain  and  foreign 187 

held  in  trust 181 

how  to  procure 197 

how  to  secure 182 

importation  of  books,  restrictions 190 

infringement 170, 183, 190 

due  to  omission  of  notice 188 

penalties  and  remedies 172, 190 


412  INDEX 

Copyright  (Continued) 

meaning  of  term -.,,.,...  166 

omission  of  notice 187 

lectures  and  addresses 182,  199 

manufacturing  provisions 185 

nature  and  extent 179 

new  editions  of  books 190 

notice  in  published  works 186 

photographs 182,  199 

penalty  for  default  of  deposit  of  copies 184 

for  false  affidavit 186 

for  infringement 190 

periodicals 183 

policy  of  law 166 

postmaster's  receipt  for  deposit  of  copies 184 

protection  afforded 190 

publication  of  work 182 

public  documents 181 

reciprocal  rights  in  foreign  countries 182 

record  books  open  to  public 196 

registration  195, 197 

serial  contributions  to  periodicals 183 

value  of  plates  in  law 169 

what  may  be  protected 179, 190 

who  may  obtain 181 

works  not  reproduced  for  sale  182, 199 

Correspondence,  business,  value  of  good  usage 9 

in  technical  journals 147 

Cost,  author's  alterations 120 

composition,  how  to  check 269 

copyright 196 

errors  in  composition 120 

manufacturing  books 217 

typewriting  manuscript 117 

Cost  data,  articles  in  periodicals 75 

Countries  granting  reciprocal  copyright 182 

Cover  design,  protection 180 

"Crash"  bindings  for  books 258 

Credit  to  authorities .  v  .89, 174 

Critical  rhetoric 22 

Criticism,  "fair,"  and  libel 225 

of  books .340,  351 

and  copyright  infringement  171 

Cross  indexing  and  cross  references 326 

Culture,  general,  need  to  engineer 2 

Defamation  .                                                                    .  221 


INDEX  413 

Dekcy  in  return  of  manuscript  to  author 212 

Descriptive  periodical  articles 66,  146 

Desultory  reading  of  books 402 

Dewey  decimal  system  of  classification 331 

Discourse,  form  and  purpose 20 

D'Israeli,  Isaac,  regarding  books 402 

Documents,  Government 383 

Draft  of  literary  work 91 

Drawings,  copyright 182, 199 

erasures  in 237 

preparation  for  reproduction  231 

reproduction  of 229 

Duck  bindings  for  books 259 

Duodecimo  size  of  books 134 

Duplication  of  matter,  correction  in  proof 281 

Editing  letters 150 

manuscript 113, 119 

Editorial  opinions  on  articles 143 

policy  regarding  literary  material 142 

responsibility 149 

Electrotypes 275 

Elegance  in  expression / 24 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo,  regarding  books.  » 402 

Emphasis  in  expression 24 

Em,  standard  of  type  measurement 268 

Energy  in  expression 24 

Engineering  literature,  what  it  includes .  .  366 

problems,  periodical  articles 70 

terminology,  basis 37 

works,  descriptive  articles 67 

Engineer's  library 359 

English,  value  of  good  usage 9 

English  language,  construction 29 

"Errata"  sheet 130,  279 

Errors  in  books,  correction  by  readers 342 

in  composition,  cost 120 

in  grammar 28 

in  judgment  of  books 398 

Essentials  to  success  in  literature ,  60 

Esthetic  rhetoric 20 

Ethical  rhetoric 20 

Excitation,  a  feature  of  rhetoric 21 

Expression,  literary ..„..•.... 5, 24 

•  variety  necessary 53 

Extempore  speaking 82 


414  INDEX 

Fable 26 

Fictitious  name,  copyright  entry 181 

signature  to  letters 149 

Field  of  technical  journals ' 141 

Figures  of  speech  and  thought 24, 101 

Filing 296 

periodical  articles 305 

system  for  field  and  office  use 307 

trade  publications 318 

Font  of  type 281 

Foreign  books,  copyright 192 

Foreign  copyright 187 

Foundry  proofs 278 

Galley  proofs 277 

Geographic  names,  simplified 34 

Geological  Survey  documents 386 

Government  publications,  how  to  obtain 383 

Grammar,  definitions  and  relations 17 

examples  of  errors 28 

Half-tone  process  of  reproduction 239 

Handwritten  manuscript 117 

Hare,  Julius  Charles,  regarding  books 402 

Harrison,  Frederic,  regarding  books 400 

Hyperbole 25 

Ideas,  indexing  arrangement 327 

represented  on  cards 84 

sources 85 

Illustrations,  effect  on  quality  of  paper 250 

indication  of  sizes  of  objects 129 

technical,  criticism  of 356 

editing  manuscript 128 

preparation  of 228 

Importation  of  copyrighted  books 192 

Impromptu  speaking 82 

Incompleteness  of  literary  work 88 

Index,  articles  in  periodicals 389 

book 137 

cards,  Library  of  Congress 311 

use  in  arranging  topics 90 

cross  references 326 

defined .  300 

keeping  up  to  date 304 

making 330 

notice  in  book  review 356 

rules  to  be  observed  in  making 324 


INDEX  415 


Indexes  to  technical  press 303, 382, 405 

Index-reading 402 

Indexing 296 

books  and  periodicals 305,  324 

Dewey  decimal  system 331 

industrial  library  system 301 

technical  information 298 

Industrial  library  index ,  301 

Infringement  of  copyright — (See  Copyright.) 

Inks,  printing 255 

Inspiration  in  literary  work 57 

Instruction,  a  feature  in  rhetoric 20 

Interest,  need  in  literary  work 88 

Interlineations  in  manuscript 118 

Inventive  rhetoric 20 

Irony 27 

Italics,  use  in  printing 123 

Journals,  field  and  policy  141 

Journalism,  technical,  essentials  to  success 61 

Judgment  of  books 397 

of  periodicals 379 

Law,  copyright 178 

libel 221 

"Leaded"  type  matter 269 

Leather  bindings  for  books 258 

Lectures,  copyright 182, 199 

Letter  writing 9 

Lettering  backs  of  books 264 

drawings 235 

Letters,  proportionate  use 272 

Letters  to  editor 147 

editing  . 150 

without  signatures 149 

rights  of  writer 164 

Libel,  law 221 

Library  of  Congress  index  cards 311 

Library,  classification  system 308 

engineer's 359 

extent. 361 

formation 364 

value 359 

industrial 301 

Line  drawings,  reproduction 229 

Linen  bindings  for  books 256 

Lines,  correction  of  spacing  in  proof 280 


416  INDEX 

substitution  of  new  matter  in  proof 282 

Lining  papers  for  books 253 

Lists  of  recommended  books 376 

Literary  agent 208 

criticism 171,  225,  340 

expression 5, 24 

what  it  involves , 13 

features  of  book 130 

material 84 

property 164 

work,  aids 92 

works,  non-copyrighted 174 

why  some  fail 88 

Literature,  abstracts  from  writings  of  others 173 

aim 57,60,65 

essentials  to  success 60 

inspiration  and  motive 57 

most  useful  to  engineers 64 

purpose ."".-'.  .*.'..• 1 

standards .  57 

what  it  is -.-..-.. .  .  3 

Litotes 24 

"Loading"  printing  papers 251 

Logotypes  218 

Lowell,  James  Russell,  regarding  books.  . ..........  404 

Making  up  the  book .244, 288 

Make-ready 276 

Make-up  of  periodicals 288 

Manufacturing  department,  outline  of  work 260 

provisions  required  for  copyright . . ; 185 

Manuscript,  bound 210 

considered  as  literary  property    164 

editing  113, 119 

estimate  of  space  occupied  in  print 134,  270 

final  writing 91 

loss  by  publishers .  211 

making  additions 116 

preparation  for  publication 112, 115 

return  by  periodicals 212 

'submission  to  publisher ..........-..;..   206 

Margins  on  manuscript  sheets 116 

Marks  used  in  correcting  proofs . .-  .280,  285 

Material,  collecting  and  arranging.  ..........; 82 

selection  for  publication 152 

Meiosis 24 

Memory,  exercising .•-.-: 94 


INDEX  417 

Metaphor 25 

Methods  and  Costs  articles  in  periodicals 75 

Metonomy 27 

Mind-wandering 100 

Misplaced  matter,  correction  in  proofs 280 

Mixed  metaphors 26 

Morley,  John,  regarding  books 403 

Motive  in  literary  work 57, 60 

Names  of  type 271 

National  Education  Association,  simplified  words  ...  30 
Nomenclature — See  Words  and  phrases. 

Notes  for  guidance  of  printer 130 

Notice  of  copyright  , 186 

Numbering  sheets  of  manuscript 116 

Numbers,  how  to  remember 108 

Octavo  size  of  books  134 

Omissions,  correction  in  proof 281 

Oratory 14, 22,  50 

classification  23 

Orders,  badly  expressed 11 

Originality  in  writings 167 

Orthography 29 

Overlaying 276 

Page  proofs , 278,  283 

Paper  for  manuscripts 92, 116 

printing 247 

Parable 26 

Paragraphs,  arrangement 90 

directions  for  editing 124 

Paronomasia 24 

Payments  for  manuscripts 206 

Periodical  articles,  protection  by  copyright 190 

submission  to  publishers 205 

Periodicals,  field  and  policy 141 

indexing  and  filing  articles 303,  324 

lettering  on  backs 264 

preservation  and  binding 391 

quantity 381 

reading 387 

rules  for  make-up 288 

selection 378 

selection  of  articles 63 

standard  of  judgment 379 

what  study  involves » . . . « 366 


418  INDEX 

Personal  items  for  periodicals 151 

Personification 26 

Persuasion,  a  feature  of  rhetoric 21 

Photo-engraving  and  photo-lithography 230 

Photographs,  copyright 182,  199 

preparation  for  reproduction  240 

Phrases 36 

Physical  side  of  books 246 

Plate  proofs 278 

Plates  of  copyrighted  books,  value  in  law 169 

Pleonasm 25 

Poetry 22 

Point  system  of  type  sizes 267 

Policy,  publishers',  regarding  literary  style 114 

of  technical  journals 141 

Preface  of  books 132 

notice  in  book  review 353 

Preparation  of  illustrations  for  reproduction 228 

of  manuscript  for  publication, 112, 115, 119 

Press  clippings 382 

proofs 278 

Printer,  dealing  direct  with  author 265 

notes  for  guidance 130 

reading  proof 281,  283 

Printer's  copy 113 

Printing 244, 266 

from  electrotypes 275 

inks 255 

presses 276 

Problems,  solution,  in  periodical  articles 70,  71 

Professional  success,  knowledge  necessary 58 

Proof-reader 277 

Proof-reading 283 

Proofs,  correcting 280 

correction  marks 285 

example  of  correcting. 286 

how  made 279 

various  kinds,  distinction  between 277 

Proportion  in  arrangement  of  material 88 

''Proprietor"  of  copyright 181 

Public  documents  and  how  to  obtain  them 383 

Publication  of  book 203 

Publication,  writing  for 115 

Publisher,  notice  in  book  review 351 

relations  with  author 187, 203 

Publishers'  terms 213 

work,  notice  in  book  review. 356 


INDEX  419 


Punctuation 29,  34,  124 

Quality  and  quantity  of  books 64 

periodicals 379 

Quotations,  in  manuscript 125 

misuse 

standard  authors  regarding  books 400 

use  in  book  reviews 171, 190 

Reading  books 392, 400 

classics 55 

indexes 402 

periodicals 387 

proofs 283 

Recollection  and  remembrance 95 

Recommended  books,  lists 376 

Redrawing  illustrations  for  reproduction 242 

Reductions  of  illustrations 232 

Regulations,  badly  expressed 11 

Rejection  of  articles 142 

Relations,  author  and  printer 265 

author  and  publisher 203 

Reporter's  method  of  collecting  material 85 

Reports,  need  of  correct  expression 11 

Reproduction  of  illustrations 229 

Responsibility  of  editors 149 

Return  of  manuscript  by  editors 212 

Reviews — See  book  reviews 

Reviews,  literary 382 

Rhetoric,  classification 19, 22 

definitions  and  relations 17 

value  to  salesmen 21 

Rights  of  author  in  works 164, 190, 211 

Royalties 216 

Rules,  badly  expressed 11 

make-up  of  periodicals 288 

publishers/  regarding  spelling 30 

simplification  of  chemical  terms 34 

simplification  of  geographic  names 34 

simplified  spelling 31 

to  be  observed  in  making  indexes 324 

Salesman,  elements  of  success 23 

value  of  rhetoric 21 

Section  titles  in  books 127 

Selection,  material  for  publication 63, 141,  152 

books 374 

periodicals 378 


420  INDEX 


Self-advancement  as  motive  to  literary  work 57 

Sentences,  directions  for  editing 124 

Shorthand,  value 92 

Side  heads 127 

Signatures  to  letters 148 

Silver  print  enlargements 242 

Simile 25 

Simplified  spelling • 30 

Sizes,  books 134 

catalogues 319 

manuscript  sheets 116 

objects,  in  illustrations 129 

type 267 

''Solid"  type  matter 269 

Space  occupied  by  manuscript  in  type 270 

Spacing,  correction  in  pages 280 

Speaking,  advantages  of  ability 7 

essentials  to  success 62 

impromptu 82 

motive 59 

why  some  people  fail 14 

Special  subjects  for  periodical  articles 79 

Specialization  in  reading 3,  364 

Specifications,  necessity  of  clearness 11 

superfluous  clauses 51 

1    text-books 139 

Spelling 29 

correction  in  proof 281 

Standardization  of  trade  publications 319 

Standards  of  judgment  of  periodicals 379 

literature . 57 

type  measurement 268 

Stone  for  make-up 279 

Style  "fine  writing"..  . 49 

promotion  by  figurative  language 23 

variety 53 

Subjects,  choice 63 

thoroughness  of  treatment  in  books 347 

Superfluous  matter 51 

Synecdoche .....; 27 

Table  of  type  data 269a 

Tautology •     25 

Technical  authorship •  •     61 

indexes 405 

information,  indexing  and  filing 298 

journalism -. 61 


INDEX  421 

Technical  press,  aims 66 

words,  choice 40 

Text-books 369 

need  of  care  in  preparation 89,  345 

specifications 139 

Text  matter,  arrangement  in  books 134 

Thinking,  principles 101 

Title  of  book 131 

protection  by  law 169 

Topics,  indexing  arrangement 327 

unrelated,  how  to  learn 106 

Trade  publications 

classification • 312 

filing 318 

Trade  write-up 145 

Transpositions  in  manuscript 

correction  in  proofs 280 

Treatises 369         --. 

Type  data,  table  of . 269a            ( 

faces 273 

fonts -281 

measurement 267 

names 271 

sizes 267 

variations  in  manuscript,  editing 123 

Types,  what  made  of 267 

Typewritten  manuscript 117 

Typography 266 

Underlaying 277 

U.  S.  Public  Documents 383 

Unity  in  arrangement 88 

Unpublished  works,  rights  of  author 164 

Variety  in  use  of  words 53 

Vocabulary,  value  and  extent 52 

Wash  drawings,  preparation  for  reproduction 240 

Wax-engraving  process 229 

Wood,  manufacture  into  paper 248 

Words 36 

coinage  of  new 39 

common,  use 49 

correction  of  spacing  in  proofs 280 

different  meanings 39 

divided,  at  end  of  line 124 

how  learned 106 


422  INDEX 


Words  (Continued) 

indexing  arrangement  .........................  327 

number  and  variety  in  use  .....................  52 

number  to  printed  page  ......................  134,  270 

substitution  of  new  in  proofs  ...................  282 

suggestive  power  ...............................  54 

technical  ...........................  ............  40 

Words  and  phrases,  analyses  .................  .  .  .  .  .  40 

drafting-  room  terms  .........................  45 

50-foot  span  .................................  46 

foundation  ..................................  39 

lacing  —  latticing  ............................  48 

lineal  —  linear  ................................  47 

railway  —  railroad  ...........................  41 

reinforced  concrete  ..........................  46 

street  traffic  —  street  travel  ...................  44 

watershed-drainage  area—  catchment  area-basin  .  42 
Write-up  article   .............................  145,  158 

Writing,  advantages  of  ability  ....................  7 

aim  ...............  ..........................  65 

choice  of  subject  .....  ..........................    63 

for  publication  ................................  115 

inspiration  and  motive  .........................  58 

paper  ............  .  .......  ,  ,  ..................  92 

why  some  people  fail  .....  PSvri  .  .  ...............  14 


GENERAL  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA— BERKELEY 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or  on  the 

date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  book&are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 

* 


&•> 


1954  ni 


e   MP,, 
u 

REC'D  LD 

29  J956 


REC'D  LD 

1957 


LD  21-100m-l,'54(1887sl6)476 


i    /•   ^O~7 

I  DUO  / 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


